Significance: America's first responders, firefighters, lead the nation in cardiovascular disease (CVD) deaths (as sorted by profession). The American Heart Association and the National Heart, Blood, and Lung Institute, along with other national agencies, have clearly delineated the risk factors associated with the development of CVD (e.g. levels of fitness, body composition components, rates of smoking, heredity, etc.). What is not yet clear is the identification of which of the CVD risk factors, which may develop over the career of a professional firefighter, are most strongly associated with the CVD death rate data for firefighters.
Design: To investigate the CVD development trend, researchers at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas have established a multi-year study annually testing firefighters in multiple health and wellness areas (e.g. fitness, nutrition, stress management, etc.). Cohorts have been established in southern Nevada with initial testing being conducted on firefighter cadets as they begin their professional firefighter careers. This study reports on the results of the first four years of fitness testing. The fitness tests were conducted in the field and measured levels of muscular strength, muscular endurance, body composition, flexibility, and aerobic capacity. These areas were selected due to their consistency with the Internationally Association of Firefighter's (IAFF) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Wellness and Fitness national initiative and the National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) standard 1582. Fitness test results were compared to national adult fitness and body composition norms.
Results: Fitness levels of the cohort group remained stable over the study's first fours years. Variations in levels of individual levels of fitness between cohort members were affected by: 1) a long probationary period at the onset of being hired, 2) call / emergency frequency differences between fire stations to which cohort members were assigned, 3) self-reported participation in on-site fitness activities, 4) self-report of participation in recreational activities during non-working days, and 5) the presence of an in-house comprehensive wellness and fitness program. It was concluded that the results suggest that at the onset of a professional firefighter's career, fitness levels do not contribute to the development of firefighter CVD risk.