Getting Firefighters Back on Their Feet

STPH ENSURING SIDELINED FIREFIGHTERS
ARE READY TO RETURN TO ACTION

COVINGTON - Getting firefighters safely back to work after an injury or illness is critical to the well-being of the communities they protect.

That’s why St. Tammany Parish Hospital Wellness Works, with the help of local fire districts, created a workplace wellness program exclusive on the Northshore to determine when area firefighters are ready to return to work after an extended illness or injury.

The Fit For Duty program offers evaluations that simulate the real-world challenges firefighters face on the job.

In the past, local firefighters had to drive to Harahan for such tests.

“This is an investment in the health and wellness of the community’s firefighters,” said Michelle Fell, manager of STPH’s Outpatient Rehabilitation unit.

The program includes two main components.

• The first is a medical evaluation of the sidelined firefighter by St. Tammany Physicians Network physicians with special training in firefighting health and wellness requirements.
• The second element uses simulated rescue and fire-response operations to test firefighters’ ability to safely complete 13 different job functions.

STPH rehabilitation therapists play a central role in the second part of Fit For Duty. After an initial assessment of strength and flexibility, therapists walk alongside firefighters as they complete the indoor and outdoor work-simulation course.

The process includes checking each firefighter’s heart rate after tests that include:

• Walking 200 feet at their own pace and up and down two flights of stairs (14 steps per flight) in full firefighter personal protective equipment (PPE).
• Carrying a 26-pound fire extinguisher and 42-pounds of equipment up and down four flights of stairs, in full PPE at their own pace.
• Simulating ceiling and door breaches with specific weight requirements.
• Dragging a 175-pound dummy 100 feet while wearing 75 pounds of firefighting gear and an oxygen mask.

“This tests the gamut of what we do both physically and medically,” said Ken Salzer, chief of EMS for Fire District 4 in Mandeville.

Firefighters wear a heart monitor during the period work simulations to create a detailed record of heart function during each element of the assessment. 

The program is designed to measure a firefighter’s job-readiness regardless of the nature of an injury or illness, said Chief of Administration Clint Ory of Fire District 13 in Covington.

“It’s 100 percent reflective of what we do,” Ory said.

Ory and Salzer worked with STPH rehabilitation therapists for more than a year to incorporate national standards into the program that also reflects local needs. To test STPH therapists’ readiness for their central role in the new evaluations, Ory asked them to lead veteran fire officials from throughout the region through the course.

“They know exactly what they are doing,” Ory said of the therapists. “It’s an excellent test of wellness and return-to-work readiness.”

Salzer agreed that Fit For Duty is an important asset for Northshore firefighters.

 “We always told them (STPH) that if they build it, we would come,” Salzer said. “Well, they built it, and we did.”