By Gary Bowker
Kansas Advocate

As I sit beside the fireplace this evening and the holiday season approaches, all is well with the Bowker family. I count the many blessings too numerous to mention that my family and I have recently received. One of the blessings that I am most grateful for is that I am alive and well this holiday season, and that my family and friends are not mourning the loss of a husband, a father, and a brother. But that was almost not the case. My story begins with the events that occurred during a structure fire I responded to on August 29th, 2007 in my community.

The Winfield Fire Department was dispatched to the report of a structure fire at 2:59 PM on this date. I happened to be only a short distance from the address and I arrived several minutes before our first due Engine and Quint. The weather conditions were very warm and humid which is typical for a summer afternoon in Kansas. Upon my arrival I noted that we had a single story wood frame duplex apartment approximately 50% involved, with flames showing from the windows on the A side of the structure, and heavy dark smoke pushing from the eaves at both B and D ends of the attic. After relaying my size-up report to the incoming units, I put on my turnout gear and began to ascertain whether or not the occupants were still inside the structure. A neighbor reported that nobody was at home and the occupants were in the process of moving in. Upon the arrival of Winfield Engine-71, Quint-71, and Command-71, I assumed the duties of Incident Safety Officer. An offensive fire attack was quickly extended through the front door into the involved apartment along with a primary search of the involved units. The fire was brought under control within about 25 minutes. By this point in time I had conducted 5 or 6 360's around the structure and had coordinated the scene safety concerns with Command. The initial attack crew was sent to rehab and our automatic aid engine company from neighboring Arkansas City Fire Department had arrived on scene. Their crew was in the process of conducting a secondary search and checking for fire extension into the adjoining apartment unit.

At this point in time I felt that it was time for me to go to rehab and cool down. I thought to myself, I've only been on scene about half and hour and I shouldn't be this "overheated" and fatigued. After informing Command that I would be checking into rehab, one of our captains stopped to talk to me. The next thing I recalled was being helped into the EMS ambulance and my turnout gear being stripped off of me. I had reached the point of total exhaustion about one minute after feeling fatigued and realizing that I needed to go to rehab.

After being transported to the hospital and receiving IV fluids, I quickly recovered and wanted to get back to the fire scene. I thought to myself, I really do need to be in better physical condition and I could stand to lose a few pounds. I have to make PT more of a priority in my schedule. Several weeks later while working on the treadmill in the fire station, I noticed that I was again becoming too quickly fatigued after about a twenty minute workout. I was really feeling worn-out and my legs were beginning to feel weak. Again I believed that I just needed to be in better condition and I'm not getting any younger.

Now fast forward to the morning of October 10th, 2007. My alarm went off that morning at 0630 and I got up for work. I noticed that I had a dull ache in the upper center portion of my chest. As I was shaving, this ache extended into my left arm and into my back between the shoulder blades. I did not like this. I knew what these symptoms were and I did not want to believe this was happening to me. I also realized that denial is the No.1 symptom of an impending heart attack. Another fact that I realized about this time, firefighters do not like to call 911 for themselves. I called the fire station instead and had a crew at my home within several minutes. (They radioed EMS while in route to my residence) After arriving at the hospital and being treated, the blood test revealed that I did not have a heart attack. The decision was made to go ahead and transport me to Wichita to the Kansas Heart Hospital for further evaluation. After a trip to the cath-lab I was informed that I had a 98% blockage of all three of the main coronary arteries, with additional blockage of a number of the lesser one's. By-pass surgery was the only option. I was diagnosed with Coronary Artery Disease. The following morning I went into surgery and received seven heart by-passes.

Within several days I could tell that I felt better than I had in 6 or 7 years. To date I have lost 30 pounds, I am on a regular exercise program and I feel great. Its been a number of years since I could honestly say that. My wife and I have modified our diet to that of a healthy heart life style. You know, I've come to the realization that the typical American diet is really loaded with fat and calories and its killing us. This is an area we truly need to make the cultural change happen in our lives for healthier longer living. For me, the alternative is that I will likely die early if I did not modify my life style. I no longer am concerned about "losing weight" as the end result of my dieting and exercise. My focus is now on having a healthier heart. The weight loss is taking care of itself as a result. It is worthy to note that my heart disease was in large part caused by hereditary factors. My father died early from this disease in 1977. The primary symptom I experienced prior to the morning of October 10th was early exhaustion when I exerted myself. I did not associate that with cardiac trouble. Thinking back, I recall several times this past summer after coming home from work that the muscles in both arms would ache. Again, that was unusual, but I did not associate that as a warning symptom.

I could have been the poster boy for a cardiac related Line-of-Duty Death...a 51 year-old male, chief officer, somewhat overweight, poor dieting habits, didn't exercise enough, and had history of hypertension being controlled with meds...Well at least I didn't smoke.

How many of you fit into this same category that I did? Is your department on its way to having a LODD?

If you have a family history of heart disease or have experienced any of the symptoms that I did, you should see your physician immediately. Now is the time. Don't put it off. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for your family. Do it for your crew. Stress and over exertion is the No.1 killer of firefighters in America today. And folks... in most cases it is completely preventable. Only by the grace of God am I still here to celebrate another holiday season with my family. The structure fire on August 29th could have easily been my last alarm. According to my cardiologist I was "hanging on by a thread". Responding to another fire, going up the flight of stairs to my office 5 or 6 times a day, or just sitting at my desk could have been it. I went to the edge as about as close as you can get without going over and having a massive heart attack.

I wonder how many among our ranks will be missing next Christmas because of a preventable LODD. Are you listening...? As of tonight 105 fallen firefighters across America have already had their last Christmas on this Earth...and their families mourn and their children miss their daddy. I thank God I was not 106.