Mayday Monday: Heart Health for Firefighters

It’s been a bad start to 2022 in terms of fire service line-of-duty deaths (LODDs). While we all recover from the shock of those killed in St. Louis, Los Angeles County, Baltimore, and Stockton, we must continue to focus on one of the leading causes of firefighter LODDs: sudden cardiac death.

February is Heart Health Month. As we have done for last few years, it is time to take care of our heart and do some preventative maintenance. Why? Every firefighter has a heart. If it’s not working at full capacity, it can cause a problem. Last year, there were 27 LODDs related to stress/overexertion. Studies have shown that for every one LODD related to the heart, there were 17 to 25 near misses. That’s almost 500-700 firefighters.

These deaths and near misses may have been prevented. According to new research in the Journal of the American Heart Association, “Firefighters who died from cardiac arrest were much more likely than those who died of other causes to show signs of both atherosclerotic and hypertensive heart disease at autopsy.” What does that mean? These firefighters who died in the line of duty had underlying cardiovascular disease! This underlying cardiovascular disease may have been detected during a health screening. Read that again…during a health screening! It’s time to get one!!

This month’s skill/drill is to get checked. Make a point to see your doctor this month. This job is tough. Getting your heart checked isn’t. Get checked!

Please check out this month’s show. It is a survivor’s story. Naval District of Washington Battalion Chief Randy Feltner tells his story of how he survived the “big one.” He describes his recovery and gives us some tips on surviving a heart attack.