Welcome to the NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter E-News. The NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program was designed to help firefighters become more heart-healthy and lower the incidence of heart attack related deaths in the fire service. We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it benefits not only you, but others in your fire department, family and community.

1. Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program Gains National Exposure
2. NVFC Seeks Recipes for Cookbook
3. NVFC Releases 2007 Heart-Healthy Exhibit Schedule
4. How You Can Protect Yourself From the Flu
5. Preventing Injury and Illness
6. Heart-Healthy Tip
7. Small Steps

Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program Gains National Exposure

NVFC’s Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program, the nation’s leading heart attack awareness and prevention campaign for the emergency services, continues to receive national attention for its efforts to reduce the number of emergency responder deaths caused by heart attack. Recently, Firehouse.com filmed a tour of the Heart-Healthy Firefighter Booth and featured it on their website. The Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program’s spokesperson, Erron Kinney, was the subject of an extensive profile in the July/August issue of National Fire & Rescue Magazine. Fire Chief Magazine included coverage of the Heart-Healthy Program in its September 2006 issue.

Firehouse.com has posted a video about the Heart-Healthy Firefighter booth on its website. The footage was filmed at Firehouse Expo in Baltimore and features a tour of the booth, including health screenings, cooking demonstrations, an interview with Maggie Wilson , NVFC’s Director of Health and Safety, and comments from firefighters visiting the booth. The video tour is available on www.firehouse.com, and is also linked from the Heart-Healthy Firefighter website at www.healthy-firefighter.org.

National Fire & Rescue Magazine profiled Heart-Healthy Firefighter spokesperson Erron Kinney in its July/August 2006 issue. Reporter Mike Macdonald conducted an in-depth interview with Kinney, who is both an NFL player and a dedicated volunteer firefighter.

The article takes an in-depth look at how Kinney balances the “four Fs” of his life – faith, family, firefighting, and football. Kinney is in his seventh season of the NFL and is the starting tight end for the Tennessee Titans. He is also a volunteer firefighter, calling firefighting “a lifelong passion.” He first began as a junior firghter at age 13, and currently serves as a lieutenant with the Williamson County Rescue Squad in Grassland, TN, and as deputy chief for the Shady Grove Fire Department in Hickman County , TN. He is also the spokesperson of NVFC’s Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program and Fire Safe Tennessee, as well as a member of the Tennessee State Fire Commission.

“What a blessing it’s been to have a God-given passion to serve others and then to be able to integrate football and firefighting into all the areas of my life,” Kinney told Mcdonald. “The brotherhood of firefighting is an awesome experience for me, and I’m just enjoying it and trying to make the most out of it. Football has been great as a platform for me to bring exposure and recognition to the fire service, especially to what the volunteer firefighters across the country do.”

“I’ve been lucky because I get to live out the childhood dreams of so many people throughout the country,” Kinney continued. “I get to play professional football and be a firefighter.”

Read the entire article in the July/August issue of National Fire & Rescue  Magazine, or online at www.nfrmag.com/July-Aug%2006/Kinney.asp.

The Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program recently collaborated with Fire Chief Magazine, the Chicago Fire Department, and American LaFrance to create a special exercise insert in the September issue of Fire Chief. The removable poster describes 16 different exercises that firefighters can perform with the use of a resistance band. In a related editorial in the same issue of the magazine, Editorial Director Janet Wilmoth highlights the Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program.

“Fitness is a vital component in an individuals’ plan for achieving a healthy heart,” Maggie Wilson , NVFC’s Director of Health and Safety, told Wilmoth in the article. “Having a regular exercise routine reduces the risks of heart disease and diabetes, and it also works hand in hand with proper nutrition and calorie intake to achieve desired weight goals.”

The editorial, “No More Excuses,” can be found on the Fire Chief website at http://firechief.com/mag/firefighting_no_excuses_2/. To learn more about the NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program, visit www.healthy-firefighter.org.

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The National Volunteer Fire Council's (NVFC) Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program is putting together a cookbook of heart-healthy recipes that firefighters and emergency services personnel can use at home or at the firehouse. The NVFC invites those who have a heart-healthy recipe they would like included in the cookbook to submit the recipe for consideration. Fill out the recipe form and email it to Brooke Marshall at bmarshall@nvfc.org or mail it to:

The National Volunteer Fire Council
Attn: Brooke Marshall
1050 17th Street, NW, Suite 490
Washington, DC 20036

The Cookbook is part of the NVFC's national effort to decrease the risk of heart attack among firefighters and emergency services personnel through proper nutrition, fitness and health education.

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he National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) will exhibit its Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program booth at several fire and emergency service trade shows in 2007. The booth includes several features to help promote heart-health and heart attack awareness among the emergency services.

Once again, the NVFC has teamed up with L&T Health and Fitness, an award-wining fitness management and health promotion company, to offer free health screenings for blood pressure, cholesterol, and glucose. Over 12,000 firefighters, emergency services personnel, and their family members have been screened through the Heart-Healthy Firefighter booth to date, and several thousand more will be screened in 2007.

Chef Kevin Harris of Food For Love, Inc., will also be on hand to provide heart-healthy cooking demonstrations. Harris selects different heart-healthy recipes for each show and proves to attendees that heart-healthy cooking does not have to be difficult or bland.

Heart-Healthy Firefighter spokesperson, Erron Kinney, will be traveling with the program to various events to sign autographs and promote the importance of heart health among the emergency services. Kinney is both a tight end for the NFL team Tennessee Titans and a volunteer firefighter.

“We are very excited that Erron Kinney will be able to attend some of the shows with us, and to be teaming up again this year with L&T Health and Fitness and Chef Kevin Harris to provide an interactive health experience at key industry trade shows,” said Maggie Wilson , Director of Health and Safety for the NVFC. “Heart attack continues to be the leading cause of firefighter deaths, but every firefighter and first responder we reach at these shows is a step towards reversing this terrible trend.”

Heart-Healthy Firefighter 2007 Booth Schedule

Fire-Rescue East
January 24-27       
Prime F. Osborn Convention Center
Jacksonville, FL

Firehouse World
February 25-31         
San Diego Convention Center
San Diego, CA

FDIC
April 19-21       
Indiana Convention Center
Indianapolis, IN

Fire Expo 2007
May 18-20
Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex
Harrisburg, PA

Firehouse Expo
July 26-28       
Baltimore Convention Center
Baltimore, MD

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What Is the Flu?

Influenza is a contagious disease caused by a virus. It can cause mild to severe illness and at times can lead to death. When someone who has influenza sneezes, coughs, or even talks, the influenza virus is expelled into the air and may be inhaled by anyone close by.

Who Gets the Flu?

Each year, approximately 10 to 20 percent of the American population gets sick with the flu. Approximately 200,000 hospitalizations occur due to influenza-associated illness each year and about 36,000 Americans die each year from flu and complications arising from flu, including an average of 92 deaths of children under age 5.

Who Should Get Vaccinations?

The American Lung Association recommends that the following at-risk groups receive an annual flu vaccination:

• People over 65 years old. Pneumonia and Influenza are the fifth leading cause of death for people over 65. Only about 69 percent of Americans 65 years and older receive the flu shot annually.
• People 50 to 64 years of age.
• Children from 6 months old to 23 months.
• Residents of nursing homes and other chronic-care facilities.
• Adults and children from 6 months old with chronic lung or cardiovascular disorders, including asthma.  However, only 10 percent of children with asthma and 39 percent of adults with asthma get the flu annually.
• People with diabetes or chronic kidney disease.
• People with anemia.
• People who are immune-depressed or who have AIDS.
• Women who will be pregnant during the flu season, which lasts from December to March.
• Children between 6 months and 18 years of age who are on long-term aspirin therapy.
• The influenza vaccine will not protect against other respiratory infections like colds and bronchitis, even though those ailments are commonly referred to as “flu.”

How Can You Prevent the Flu?

Influenza can be prevented with safe and effective vaccines. Because the virus usually mutates each year, an annual shot is necessary.  The American Lung Association has launched an online “flu shot locator” at www.LungUSA.org to help people obtain a flu vaccination in their neighborhood. The flu shot has been reported to be between 67 and 92 percent effective in preventing flu and reducing the severity of the flu.

Courtesy of the American Lung Association

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Physical activity is good for your health, but it does stress and strain your body in ways that a more inactive lifestyle does not. If it's done too suddenly or without basic precautions, exercise can lead to injury or illness. Even if you have long been active and are fit, keep safety in mind. Do not assume that basic precautions do not apply to you.

The most important ways to avoid injury and illness are to:

• Learn about the risks of any new activity you begin. Take lessons, if appropriate.
• Always use the safety gear that is recommended for your chosen activity, such as helmets and knee pads. Learn about the use and proper fit of safety equipment.
• Begin an exercise routine slowly and gradually increase intensity.
• Pay attention to your body's signals, such as pain and fatigue, when starting a new activity or when increasing the intensity of your physical activity. General muscle soreness is common when you try a new activity, but pain can mean you're injured. If you are very tired, you may be doing too much too soon.

Some injuries and illnesses related to physical activity include the following:

• Dehydration may result from losing too much water through sweating and failing to replace it by drinking as you exercise. Heat exhaustion, or heatstroke may result from exercising in heat and humidity.
• Overuse injuries can happen to anyone who overuses certain joints or muscles. Doing too much too soon or intensive exercise and sports can lead to overuse injuries.
• Exercise-induced asthma can occur regardless of whether you have asthma at any other time.
• Overtraining can cause fatigue and irritability as well as increased risk for injury and illness.
• Heart attack is rare, but you should be aware of its symptoms.

Courtesy of Yahoo! Health

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Get Enough Iron

Your body needs dietary iron to produce hemoglobin, which allows healthy red blood cells to carry oxygen to the body's tissues. Too few healthy red blood cells causes a condition called anemia, and lack of dietary iron is a prime cause. Here's a list of foods that are high in iron, courtesy of the University of Virginia Health System :

• Meat, including liver, lean beef, and pork loin.
• Seafood like oysters, clams, shrimp, tuna, and sardines.
• Fruits, including raisins, figs, dried apricots, and prunes.
• Vegetables like spinach, greens, broccoli, lima beans, and avocado.
• Raisin bran.
• Several kinds of beans, peas, and lentils.

Food For Thought

If weight loss is part of your plan, you've got good reasons to watch your portions. Don't deny yourself your favorite foods, but don't go overboard, either. Keep track of what you eat and each day focus on small successes. They can add up to a new you, and a lifetime of feeling better about yourself and your weight.

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• Bake or broil fish.
• Walk instead of sitting around.
• Eat sweet foods in small amounts.
• Take your dog on longer walks.
• Drink lots of water.
• Cut back on added fats or oils in cooking or spreads.
• Walk the beach instead of sunbathing.
• Walk to a co-worker's desk instead of emailing or calling them.
• Carry your groceries instead of pushing a cart.
• Use a snow shovel instead of a snow blower.

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