Health and Wellness
The fire service’s greatest asset is not equipment, apparatus, or stations, but rather its personnel. Through its personnel, the fire department serves the public, accomplishes its missions, and is able to make a difference in the community. By committing to a wellness program, the fire department often increases the members’ trust, which enhances every program and each call answered by the fire department. Placing a high priority on wellness makes sense for everyone, including fire service personnel, the taxpayers, and the public served.
After reading Chapter 9 in your textbook as well as the supplemental reading, Implementation of the First Wellness-Fitness Evaluation for the Dallas Fire-Rescue Department, and completing your own research, write a post that answers the following:
1. Discuss your departments health and wellness program.
2. Discuss any improvements you think need to be made to your program?
3. How has the program benefited your department?
or
4. If your department does not have a wellness program or if you are not associated with a department, then discuss a program you would implement for your department or for a fictional department.
5. How do you think your program will benefit your department or fictional department?
Sample Solution
Our department’s health and wellness program is designed to help ensure the safety of our personnel while they are on duty. We have implemented a variety of initiatives including physical fitness tests, regular medical evaluations, an employee assistance program (EAP), as well as education and training programs that focus on physical and mental health issues. As part of the fitness test, each firefighter must complete a standard 1.5-mile run in under 12 minutes, perform various strength exercises such as push-ups and pull-ups, and take part in agility drills (Dillon et al., 2019). Additionally, we offer an annual comprehensive medical exam which includes a physical assessment from our own physician staff members to confirm that each member is fit for active duty status (Dillon et al., 2019). In terms of support services, our EAP provides counseling for any personal or work related issues that may arise among fire personnel (Dillon et al., 2019). Lastly, all firefighters receive ongoing education regarding proper nutrition habits and other lifestyle choices that can influence overall well being.
While I believe this program has been successful in helping to keep members healthy and safe during calls – there are still some areas where improvements need to be made. For instance, although we currently provide many educational sessions about nutrition habits – I think it would be beneficial if we had more hands on activities or even classes where firefighters could learn how to properly prepare meals based off these lessons learned. This way they can more easily make healthier food decisions when they get home after long shifts instead of resorting to unhealthy fast food options out of convenience
In addition, I think having more frequent assessments beyond just the yearly exams would be helpful so that any current health problems can be addressed right away before they worsen over time. Overall though– I believe by making these few necessary changes our health and wellness program will continue providing invaluable services for both the public served as well as its own personnel.
