Some of the nation’s leading experts in the area of firefighting and heart disease have come up with a new checklist to help firefighters keep their hearts healthy. With 50 percent of all line-of-duty deaths being blamed on heart disease, there may be no greater priority than prevention. That’s why the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF) brought firefighters, researchers and physicians together in Washington, DC, last December for the Heart to Heart meeting.
The report lists 10 things firefighters can do to reduce cardiovascular disease. While much of it is common sense, the hope is the work being done by this group will put a new focus on keeping firefighters healthy so they can do what they do best: fight fires and save lives.
In addition, this report lists actions to help a company officer/crew boss and chief officers to encourage heart health among their firefighters.
Dr. Denise Smith makes a presentation on the recently published heart-to-heart white paper produced by the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. Dr. Smith was invited to do a short presentation to the National Institute for Occupational Safety’s, (NIOSH) National Occupational Research Agenda’s Safety (NORA) Council. NORA, is a partnership program to stimulate innovative research and workplace interventions. In combination with other initiatives, the products of NORA are expected to reduce the occurrence of injuries and illnesses at work.
Before the end of this year, NFFF will bring the same group together, along with marketing experts in an effort to strengthen and broaden the reach of this important message.
For more information on Heart to Heart, please contact Dr. JoEllen Kelly, jkelly@everyonegoeshome.com. If you would like to be placed on a list to be notified as more CVD material becomes available, please send an email to heart@firehero.org and note on the subject line, SIGN ME UP.
