LFD implements annual training to combat high heart attack rates among firefighters

Heart attacks are the leading cause of death among firefighters, prompting the Liberty Fire Department (LFD) to conduct annual training programs to mitigate this risk.

The training is designed to simulate real- life emergencies and raise firefighters’ heart rates through a series of strenuous tests. Additionally, the training the firefighters undergo reduces anxiety and stress levels during a mission, said LFD Assistant Chief Eric McDaniel.

“The object is to get their heart rate up to simulate what they are going to go through in a house fire,” McDaniel said.

Cardiac-related events have accounted for 43% of the on-duty duty fatalities over the past 10 years, according to a National Fire Protection Association report. In the general population in the U.S., about one in five people died from heart disease. Matt McAllister, a research fellow with the Translational Health Research Center at Texas State University, studies the effect of stress on firefighters and its relation to cardiovascular health. He’s an associate professor of exercise and sports science in the Health and Human Performance Department at Texas State and studies physical stressors and how to mitigate them for high stress occupations like firefighting.

“Exercise and training are the best thing you can do to increase performance and reduce the risk for chronic disease,” he said.

The Liberty Fire Department is a recipient of a $271,000 federal grant from FEMA, known as the Safer Grant, to promote firefighter retention. The grant covers the cost of sending firefighters to EMT and firefighting school, Mc-Daniel said, “We have up to six new recruits per year starting this year,” McDaniel said. “We have three more years of this grant to serve.”

The Liberty Fire Department will use this program to better equip both its paid and volunteer firefighters. Additionally, McDaniel aims to encourage firefighters to lead healthier lives.

“If you’re a smoker that doesn’t help. If you dip stuff that doesn’t help. If you drink a lot of energy drinks obviously that’s not going to help,” McDaniel said. “Those are the kind of things we get people not to do.”

Firefighters at the Liberty Fire Department work 48-hour shifts, living at the station where they cook and exercise together. To prevent heart attacks, LFD partnered with Anytime Fitness to provide employees with access to workout facilities. While volunteers don’t receive this benefit, the station does provide them with gym equipment.

“Our guys have access, including the volunteers, we do have workout equipment here at the station,” McDaniel said. “There is a requirement that they must exercise at least two hours per shift.”

Volunteer firefighters are more vulnerable Statistics on firefighter deaths consistently show more volunteer firefighters die on duty from heart attacks than paid firefighters. According to the NFPA’s 2022 report on fatal fire injuries, 96 firefighters died of on-duty injuries. Of those, 51 were volunteers, 38 were career firefighters, six were contractors working for state or federal land management agencies and one was a federal land management employee.

Liberty County has 15 fire departments, the majority of them made up of strictly volunteer firefighters. Liberty and Cleveland combination fire departments, meaning they have some paid firefighters and volunteers.

At the Liberty Fire Department, volunteer firefighters are selected through a voting process by their peers. Once chosen, they must pass a physical assessment and undergo extensive training before joining LFD on a voluntary basis. This assessment and training prepare firefighters to handle the strenuous demands of their duties, McDaniel said.

“Every fire, your heart rate is up,” said McDaniel. “You’re in that PPE (protective) gear, you’re putting on 50 pounds of extra weight in a temperature in a suit that will keep you well above 100 degrees, and to work for sometimes 30 or 40 minutes. It’s exhausting, and it’ll take its toll on you.” Luke Applewhite is a journalism major at Texas State University and a contributor to Texas Community Health News, a collaboration between the School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the university’s Translational Health Research Center. TCHN stories, reports and data visualizations are provided free to Texas newsrooms.