Media Room
Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program to Launch Challenge at Firehouse World Conference
Washington, D.C., December 29, 2004 - The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) announces that it will bring its Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program to the annual Firehouse World Conference & Exposition. The conference will be held in San Diego, California from January 31 to February 4, 2005.NVFC will launch the Fired Up For Fitness Challenge at the Firehouse World Conference. This interactive program will allow firefighters to log on to www.healthy-firefighter.org, and plan and record their own personal fitness program. Participants can measure their progress by recording physical activity and results such as weight loss, with prizes offered.
"This is a wonderful opportunity not only for individual firefighters, but also for entire departments to improve their overall fitness," said Philip Stittleburg, NVFC Chairman. "We're hoping for widespread participation throughout the country."
Attendees at the Firehouse World Conference are also invited stop by the NVFC Booth #3025 and take advantage of free health screenings. In addition to blood pressure and body composition screenings, the NVFC will provide cholesterol screenings.
The cholesterol screening takes only about seven minutes to complete, and participants will also be given the opportunity to meet privately with a health counselor to discuss their test results.
Now in its second year, the NVFC's Heart-Healthy Firefighter program educates firefighters and the communities they serve about the risks of heart attacks and other heart-related dangers inherent in firefighting. The program has set an aggressive goal of reducing heart-related on-duty firefighter deaths by 25% by the year 2008.
A Heart-Healthy Firefighter Kit developed by the NVFC has already provided thousands of firefighters throughout the United States with valuable information on fighting cholesterol and heart disease, as well as promoting better nutrition and overall physical fitness. The Heart-Healthy Firefighter Kit is available by visiting www.healthy-firefighter.org. This web site also offers other heart-healthy tools, including a medical history form that firefighters can print out and provide to their doctor.
Heather Schafer, the NVFC's executive director, detailed the Heart-Healthy Firefighter program activities so far. "We're pleased with our success in providing information to firefighters about cardiac-related health issues. In 2004, we not only put life-saving information into the hands of over 5,000 firefighters, we also provided free cholesterol screenings for more than 4,000 people at a variety of fire service conferences. But obviously, much work remains to be done, which is why we're ramping up efforts in 2005, including our activities at the Firehouse World Conference."
The National Volunteer Fire Council is a not-for-profit membership organization representing the interests of volunteer fire, EMS and rescue services. Organized in 1976, NVFC membership includes state-level organizations representing volunteer firefighters and EMS personnel in 48 states, along with individual firefighters, fire departments, and corporate members. The NVFC is the volunteer fire service's representative in the national policy arena, keeping its members informed of current and forthcoming legislation. The NVFC also serves on the Board of Visitors of the National Fire Academy, the Congressional Fire Services Institute's National Advisory Committee, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, the Federal of World Volunteer Firefighters Association, as well as various standards-makings committees of the National Fire Protection Association.
For more information on the National Volunteer Fire Council and its activities, including the Heart-Healthy Firefighter program, contact Maggie Wilson, Director of Health & Safety, at 1-888-ASK-NVFC or 202-887-5700, or via email at maggie@nvfc.org.
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