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Firefighters

From todays paper, a true story about three firefighters. You can see what they accomplished, I say good luck to them and many more that will be doing the same.

Firefighters get fit

Three Miami Twp. firefighters put down the chips and picked up the weights to shed pounds in an effort to become the best — and buffest — firefighters they can be.

By Anthony Gottschlich

Staff Writer

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Miami Twp., Mongtomery Co. — It wasn't long ago when firefighters Nick Seitz, Zac Ruschau and Bryan Shaw looked like the only blaze they could extinguish would be one on a birthday cake.

But thanks to a rigorous fitness program slowly catching on in the Miami Twp. fire department, the three firefighters are burning calories, shedding flab and shunning fast food and red meat for fish, chicken and rice.

(Left to right) Bryan Shaw, Zac Ruschau and Nick Seitz are Miami Twp. firefighters who underwent a rigorous fitness program to beat an alarming statistic — most firefighters die of heart attacks.



(Left to right) Shaw, Ruschau and Seitz after they've made progress with Mike Laycox, an athletic trainer with Miami Valley Hospital who emphasizes 'core training.



"This is firefighter-driven," not instituted by management, Seitz, 27, said from the fire department's headquarters on Lyons Road.

Why the fuss? Besides reducing the risk of injury, fitness helps prevent heart attacks, the leading cause of death among firefighters.

A recent study published in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that heart disease causes 45 percent of the deaths that occur among U.S. firefighters while they're on duty. Nearly a third of those deaths occur while fighting fires.

That's likely because many firefighters lack adequate physical fitness and have underlying cardiovascular problems, the authors noted.

"You go from sitting in air conditioning all day, maybe eating fatty food all day, to going and exerting yourself beyond normal limits," Seitz said. "It's a lot of stress on the body."

The study also found more than 70 percent of fire departments lack programs to promote fitness and health. That's not the case in the Dayton area.

Several local fire officials interviewed said they provide fitness training and equipment for their departments. Fitness is encouraged, though not mandatory in most departments.

In Miami Twp., the fire department works with Mike Laycox, an athletic trainer with Miami Valley Hospital who emphasizes "core" training — exercise that strengthens the back and midsection, muscles most often called into play and at risk for injury during a fire fight.

"If Zac goes up on a ladder fighting a fire and he has to reach over and he gets a little off balance, his core will correct him," said Laycox, a paramedic and the department's medical liaison. "If not, he strains his back."

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