WGFC Enhances its First Responder Health & Wellness Program

The leading cause of firefighter on duty deaths are stress and cardiac-related, which historically have accounted for nearly half of all firefighter fatalities. WGFC leadership responded to this trend and implemented a medical screening program in 2007. The program included a basic physical exam and respiratory fitness evaluation. Our most valuable resource in emergency services is our personnel and the ability to respond and provide the highest level of service to our community. As we need to maintain our emergency equipment we also need to maintain the health and wellness of our human resources, this was the driver to take our program to the next level by including a Fitness and Wellness component.
WGFC has expanded its program in the spirit of NFPA-1582/1583 which now includes:

Medical Screening- Blood & Urine screening, Chest X-Ray, Pulmonary Function, Vision & Hearing Screening, Resting EKG, Cancer Screening, Vital Signs, and Medical History.

Wellness Program- Health Risk Appraisal, Body Fat Composition, Tread analysis, Personal wellness information.

Physician Services- Hands-On Examination, Fitness for Duty Assessment, Physician review of results & consultation.

Fitness Assessment- Muscular Strength and Muscular Endurance assessment, Flexibility Evaluation, Sub-Maximal Treadmill Stress Test with 12-lead EKG.

WGFC partnered with Professional Health Services Inc. (PHS) a mobile testing service provider who brings the testing equipment and staff to the fire company. This testing was conducted at WGFC Station -32 in London Britain Township, two sessions were required to accommodate the size of the department, one in February the second in March. A total of 93 West Grove first responders including career, volunteer Fire/EMS providers and Fire Police were screened over five days.

The program will be run on a two year cycle and will provide members long-term trend results that show improvement or declines over time in all areas of the program. Awareness, education and support are key elements to this program which support our mission in providing the highest level of emergency services to our community and neighbors.