Safety Week

Next week is the Health and Safety week. We tried to do some of the activities a couple weeks ago at drill and really all we got done was having a lecture on healthy eating by the nutritionist from Hy-Vee. That was a good class and did seem to spark some interest from those who attended but my guess is that no one took that class and went home and said, "I'm going to make some changes!" Am I right?
We all have to look at ourselves in the mirror and decide if we are who we truly want to be. We are here because we want to serve our community and because to us this is fun. We enjoy being firefighters and medics. But on the other side of the coin, the jobs we do are very dangerous and can cause serious injury or death if we don't pay attention to what we are doing. Now most everyone would automatically probably think of something going wrong on the fireground as the number 1 thing that could do something to us. Actually, about 50% of the deaths each year are from heart attacks or strokes. That is not saying how many people have chest pain or something similar that is not reported each year. The Health and Safety week is trying to stop and make us think about us this year. How can we change ourselves to make us more fit and prepared to continue doing what we enjoy doing?
Couple things I would like to see people do to:
1) Watch what you eat. I am guilty of this as much as the next person. I have done better the last couple months on making better choices and eating smaller portions. The better you eat the better your body feels and has the right nutrients it needs to give us the energy we need.
2) Watch what you drink. Now that we are into the warmer months, you should be drinking plenty of water. If you are on the fire scene and have not had any water to drink prior, you are probably already dehydrated and playing catch up. That means longer time for your body to recover and longer time that you are sitting on the sideline watching others doing the work. So make sure that you are drinking water and try to cut back on the pops and alcohol.
3) Get more exercise. This might mean that you go for a walk or a run. It doesn't mean that you have to run a marathon or anything but it does mean get up and do an activity of some sort. We have weights and a treadmill here at the station that could always use more activity but if you can do something outside, great. JUST DO SOMETHING!!
4) Rest. Make sure that you are getting adequate sleep at night. This might sound funny and don't see how that ties into what we are doing but if you are tired, your body doesn't respond the way it should and is drawing energy that you could use to do the work.

I just want people to be aware that as much as we try and make sure the fireground is safe for everyone to be on, it is up to you to make sure that you are safe to be on the fireground. Doing something for yourself and try to come up with a plan to make sure that you are "Fit For Duty!"