• What is the ‘Fit Responder’ Program?

    Written by Bryan Fass, the Fit Responder Program is designed to identify and correct the rigors of a career in public safety.

    Police Officers, Fire Fighters, EMT’s and Paramedics will over the course of their career be exposed to countless situations where there will be no proper way to lift or move. Sometimes we just have to get the job done, and get it done fast. Police, Fire and EMS injury rates continue to rise despite better gear and equipment, so what is an organization or Responder to do?

    The 'Fit Responder' Program came about because I could no longer sit quietly aside while watching medics, firefighters and officers bodies deteriorate and fail from lack of care, improper exercise and over / under use.

    Throughout my career I have had countless Officers, Fire Fighters and Medics come to me for advice and guidance. Unfortunately by the time many of them contacted me their bodies were already injured. Make no mistake about it ...your chosen profession is hard on your body. But there are simple things that can be done, on duty and off, to fight injury and be fit.

    The FIT RESPONDER program was designed to help you be healthy, stay healthy and perform better.

    Be Fit, Stay Safe

    Bryan Fass, ATCL, CSCS, EMT-P

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    • Sitting to Exercise
        If you have not yet understood why we say sitting is bad and exercising while sitting is even worse, this graph pretty much sums it up…with pictures!
    • Fire and Rescue Fitness
      Fit Responder is proud to announce that we have teamed up with firefighterfitnessonline.com to offer even more evidence based content. Everything from exercise to nutrition to tactical fitness and more. Check them out!
    • Bad Patient Handling Habits
      Bad Patient Handling Habits Tagged: patient handling, safe patient handling
    • Eat to Survive
      Eat to Survive Tagged: fitness, nutrition, officer health, officer wellness, wellness
    • 4 steps to Stay Injury Free
      By Bryan Fass, written for ems1.com To quote one of my favorite commercials: “I pick things up and I put them down.”    While enormously funny, that saying is quite accurate for responders. You are a highly trained, medically educated, power lifter. You lift, push, pull, carry and transfer heavy objects in awkward and often […]
    • Gym Science
      Gym Science
    • Do you sit when you try to get fit?
      Do not sit down to exercise: Common sense and exercise dictate that it’s the constant sitting, a repetitive postural position that causes many of the repetitive injuries we see.  Back pain, knee and hip pain plus injury all occur from sitting too long, and that does not include all your gear forcing you into weird […]
    • Dangerous Ergonomics
      Do your responders pick up patients this way? Do they or you not have the physical ability to lift safely? Get a foam roller and get started taking care of you. Stretch every day and stay hydrated. Part of the S-M-F process of creating Fit Responders.
    • Stop the Strain
      I was asked in one of my train the trainer classes the other day “what is the single most important thing I can do to make sure I do not suffer from one of those overexertion injuries you keep talking about?” My answer to this dedicated paramedic fire fighter was simple.  Just prior to taking […]
    • Injury Free
      Injury in EMS and Fire fighters has reached a catastrophic level.  More and more it’s harder to survive a career in public safety, most retire on a medical disability instead of a normal retirement.  It does not nor should it be that way. Do you know how to get into and maximize the line backer […]

Sitting to Exercise

 

If you have not yet understood why we say sitting is bad and exercising while sitting is even worse, this graph pretty much sums it up…with pictures! Image

Fire and Rescue Fitness

Fit Responder is proud to announce that we have teamed up with firefighterfitnessonline.com to offer even more evidence based content. Everything from exercise to nutrition to tactical fitness and more. Check them out!

Bad Patient Handling Habits

Bad Patient Handling Habits

Eat to Survive

Eat to Survive

4 steps to Stay Injury Free

By Bryan Fass, written for ems1.com

To quote one of my favorite commercials: “I pick things up and I put them down.” 

 

While enormously funny, that saying is quite accurate for responders. You are a highly trained, medically educated, power lifter. You lift, push, pull, carry and transfer heavy objects in awkward and often dangerous positions, every day. So this more than qualifies you as an athlete or, in this case, a power lifter.

You would think that we would have some things in common with professional athletes. For example, a professional athlete would never begin their sport without a thorough warm up, stretching and soft tissue work. Unfortunately, we do not. Medics do not stretch pre-shift, which has been proven to reduce injury in other labor and awkward lifting jobs. 

EMS providers do not have to “qualify” to make the team by passing a physical ability test. Athletes do. 

Thankfully, this author was part of a ‘team’ that validated and wrote the first ever EMS pre-hire physical abilities test that is content valid, physically job specific and not age or gender biased. It may be that soon, you may have to “try out” to make the team, so to speak.

Professional lifters go through a well-practiced series of steps to get their body ready to lift and move. 

  • They position their feet to generate maximal power and to improve balance. 
  • They ‘set’ their hips to take load off the spine and maximize power generation. 
  • They follow a specific breathing pattern to allow the abdominal wall to “brace” the core and spine further reducing spinal torque and reducing soft tissue load.

On the other hand, EMS responders often go out of their way to cut corners and lift in the most inefficient and dangerous ways. Responders rarely follow a process to prepare to lift safely; instead they often just get it done as fast as possible. So the parallels between professional responders and pro-athletes are quite a contrast, to say the least.

So it begs to ask the question: What can be done to get medics, firefighters and even our brothers and sisters in law enforcement to take better pride in, and more responsibility for, their own health and wellness?

Some departments are turning to high deductible medical plans that allows employees to have some skin in the game and be responsible.

Others are implementing pre-hire physical abilities testing so they no longer hire potentially unfit and injurious employees. Instead these organizations field a more fit and agile workforce.

Still other departments are investing huge sums of money in powered tools, trucks and gear to address the problem.  This methodology will reduce injury but it is expensive and the equipment still needs to be used properly.  If responders cut corners and use poor mechanics, injuries will still occur!

The question you have to ask yourself is, what is your own personal health and wellness worth to you? Do you want to live with pain and disability? Is a disability really a good thing? 

Sadly EMS is a high risk job. You owe it to yourself, your partner and your team to go out of your way to stay injury free. 

Think about what happens when a team member is injured. Someone has to pull overtime, which costs more for the team. The risk of injury is much higher when working overtime.

So EMS power lifter, here’s four steps you can take today:

1. Stretch pre-shift and while on duty.

2. Follow the five keys to safe patient & equipment handling.

  • Maintain a wide stance or split stance with your feet flat at all times
  • Maintain a ready stance, flexed slightly at the hips and NOT the back.
  • Tighten your abdominal wall; push your ab’s down and OUT.
  • Keep your head up on ALL movements ALL the time.
  • Arch your shoulders back; never lift with a round back.

3. Stay hydrated.

4. Exercise at least three days per week.

There are lots of resources to help you get started many of them right here on EMS1. There are on duty fitness videos. You can go to www.fitresponder.com for tons of videos on patient/equipment handling, fitness and tips. 

Ferno has a new FREE injury free video series with ergonomics, fitness and nutrition.  Visit other sites like www.firefighterfitnessonline.com for advanced routines.

The bottom line is that you, and only you are responsible for your well being. Pain and injury are no fun and, other than the NFL you are in a profession with a near 100 percent chance of injury if you keep doing what you are doing. Change can be scary, so is surgery, bit in this case change is absolutely necessary for your personal health.

Gym Science

Gym Science

Do you sit when you try to get fit?

Do not sit down to exercise: Common sense and exercise dictate that it’s the constant sitting, a repetitive postural position that causes many of the repetitive injuries we see.  Back pain, knee and hip pain plus injury all occur from sitting too long, and that does not include all your gear forcing you into weird positions.

So sitting on a machine in the gym to get fit actually contributes to the problem and sitting does not activate the hips, glutes, ab’s and ‘core’ muscles that you need to do your job.  Standing on the other hand does all that and more.  Do all your exercises standing, yes boys that includes training chest.

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