Should Westchester County Sponsor Fire/EMS Gym?

[x635 4,066]

I was thinking about all the recent discussion regarding Firefighter Fitness, and came up with a wacky idea.

Westchester County is always doing something progressive. Their latest intiative is countering "Cyberbullying", which is recieving nationwide attention. So why doesn't Westchester County do something for the Fire Service that would be progressive?

Here's my idea:

Westchester County should open two "Firefighter/EMS/Communications Fitness Centers", one for the North county, someplace central, and one for Central/southern WC.

These COULD be open to other county and local employees as well to offset costs, but the primary focus would be firefighters and EMT's physcial fitness. Fire Departments would pay a very reasonable fee, and for that the firefighters would have 24/7 day a week access to a gym with equipment and design geared towards a firefighter or EMS professional. At specific times, a personal trainer would be available to develop and implement workout plans that will fit everybody.

Second part of my idea.....make going to the gym and meeting with the personal trainer to set up a plan a component of the FF1 class.

Require ALL Firefighters/EMS proffesionals AND dispatchers to attend the gym at least twice a month or whatever in order to maintain membership or employment.

I know it's a little outrageous, but if the county can provide training, why can't they provide this? I feel that many in-house gyms are underutilized or used inappropriately.

[aves3131 0]

that is a pretty progressive idea, a good one though. i've always argued for our dept. to set up a fitness area in house or work with a health club in the area for memberships for firefighters, i know some other depts in the area that do that.

fitness is often an underlooked and underappreciated aspect of firefighting and for EMT's. hopefully in the next few months we will have that fitness area in our dept. we actually recieved a used, but still in fantastic condition, piece of gym equipment donated by a resident.

also, what is "cyberbullying"? being away at school i must have missed that one

[TRUCK6018 50]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Isn't providing some sort of fitness training (whether it be in house or through a gym) part of NFPA?

[x635 4,066]

Someone correct me if I'm wrong.  Isn't providing some sort of fitness training (whether it be in house or through a gym) part of NFPA?

Isn't it ethically right as well?

[ja3kfd 34]

Katonah and Bedford Hills pay 3/4 of fee for members to belong to Saw Mill Club in Mt. Kisco, Members pay rest of fee, Members have to be active at gym and in FD,or they are dropped.

[Guest]

As a cardiovascular fitness educational tool for FFs, this new website is a good place to start. It does a good job of explaining the "why and how" for paying attention to your heart.

http://www.healthy-firefighter.org/

[ems-buff 81]

i think that is a great idea but how could we get the county involed and where should it be

i think it should be at 60-control

=D>

[TRUCK6018 50]

Why should the county get involved?

It's tough enough for the county to get the funds they need to get the classes that are needed. It's only in the last year or so that the county hired the instructors and started giving the basics.

Its only recently that the county is building and improving the facilities that are needed to teach these classes.

Because of the lack of attendance at the training center the county named Katonah and TOM as satalite facilities.

Would it be a nice to have? Sure, for the mid Westchester departments. For someone to drive a half hour from the North County would not be well received.

Funding for gyms or fitness programs should strictly be done at the local level. Let Westchester County focus on the current tasks at hand.

[x635 4,066]

Funding for gyms or fitness programs should strictly be done at the local level.  Let Westchester County focus on the current tasks at hand.

Because the county has the money. Because the county spends tons of money on other frivolous programs outside the fire service.

They can invest in all these other programs, and it would be nice to have a central physical fitness initiative at least

At the least, the county should provide some sort of physical training component to Firefighter I. Have a class on the core fundementals of excercise, and offer a session with a personal trainer to set up a regiment that would work for that person. I'm not a musclehead, so a gym is quite confusing to me, and took a lot of time for me to figure out. As I said before, I feel that the gyms on the local level are underutilized, underequipped, and used inappriately. Why have 52 or so gyms run half-assed, when we could have two or three that are run right, used appropriately, and may make people more people inclined to go?

Whether it be my gym idea or not, the county NEEDs to do something to promote both FF and EMT/ Paramedic fitness.

The shape some people are in is quite scary.......The benefits of fitness can really benefit this county.

[Guest Moose131]

I’m just kinda throwing this out there.

I agree that a few really nice gyms across the county would be a nice thing for the county to do for its FF's, however I know myself and most of the guys in my company and if we had to drive anymore then 10 or 15 minutes to get to the gym, it would not get done.

How about instead if the county took the money it would spend on leasing two or three buildings and equipping them with gym equipment, (which could be a lot)and put it instead into grants for individual departments to start/improve the gyms that they already own. I haven’t been to too many other firehouses but it is my understanding that most of them have some kind of a gym. And even a little bit of money could help them buy some new equipment. If every year the county took the money which it would have spent on renting a building and funneled it into more grants slowly every department would have the equipment to properly train its members.

As far as the personal trainer goes they could hire him to make rounds of the firehouses, lets say once a month he would visit a firehouse or an area with 3-5 firehouses and teach a seminar for anyone who wants the proper training.

[CFD320 35]

The gym idea is great, and firefighter fitness should not be overlooked. The problem with the idea is that if you have a centralized gym is, (assume Valhalla) if you go with a buddy from the FD, you just took 2 firefighters out of you district. If the FD has space for a fitness room, with some research, a very well equipped fitness room can be purchased for under $5,000.

My company used to pay for a fitness club membership for active members, when the cost exceeded $400 a year per member we bought our own equipment.

FD's all over the place spend 5k on much more frivolous things than a fitness room that lasts forever.

[Guest]

Yorktown recently (last year?) started a program where the District will pay $40 dollars of the monthly dues to a health club. The member has to attend the health club for six months and then can submit bills retroactive to when he joined the program. And afterwards as long as he is a member in good standing and also attends the gym on a regular basis.

I know most gyms within 20 minutes of Yorktown which I've visited are more than willing to wave 'initiation fee's etc, which help to drive down the overall cost of joining a gym. And as I'm sure anyone blessed with the gift of talk, if you casually mentioned to a membership rep that there are 60 other firefighters in your department who 'may' be interested in joining gym's, you can always get yourself a discounted rate.

There is also a small 'gym' in the basement of station 2 here in Yorktown. It sits mostly unusued because most people aren't receptive to the idea of getting a URI every time you go down to work out. Firefighter fitness can't be solved by throwing a couple of pieces of unwanted equipment into a dank cellar and telling everyone to get going. It A, is dangerous, and B, nobody wants to work out in a pit.

Self motivation is the only thing that will get people to go to the gym. If your not into working out and dont want to make a change for yourself, wether you belong to a cheap gym or a free one doesn't matter, because your still not going to go. But instead of turning this into a fitness lecture, back to the task at hand.

A county sponsored gym would be great, but in the scheme of things, I'd rather see more classes being offered etc. There are just too many 'what if's' associated with the county basically having to run another program, or several if you wanted more than one gym. Instead each department should make some sort of individual effort to subsidize or completely pay for individual gym memberships. Either that of what CFD mentioned and look at the possibility of constructing your own fitness center. (Preferably in a room with windows )

[ex-commish 490]

The idea of fitness is an excellent one. As a recently diagnosed diabetic, I now know the true bebefits of excercise. I feel it is up to each department, not the county to equip or supply gyms. I dont think the county would want to bear that type of liability especially since we operate under home rule.

I would suggest we look to our organizations such as WCVFA or in the case of career depts thier unions to seek out consultants and trainers to assist depts in building gyms and establishing programs.

For about 7000.00 my dept bought equipment to include a multigym, dumbells, a bike, stepper, and a treadmill. Various members donated items such as a rower, push up bars, and weight belts. We put a tv in the room as well as a music box. You can be as creative as your budget allows you to but it is best to seek advice from a trainer. Be safe.

Andy

[Guest]

The Dept. should provide fitness memberships or access to one at one of the stations. In my Dept. we have one firehouse that used there heads. They went out and spent a few bucks and bought some equipment. Not only is it convenient but it is a incentive for members. I'm used to hanging at the firehouse watching TV, thats a problem, thats where the extra lbs. get put on. If my firehouse had fitness equipment, the members wouldnt have to spend the extra $$$ at local gyms. Don't get me wrong, the gyms in the area are excellent, but why can't we provide this for our members. It would be good tool to pull guys into the firehouse, and make some calls while your running the treadmill or pushing plates. The response times would go down too, again providing great protection to our village, and providing health and safety to our members. Come on let's get with the times, and help stop killing our brothers!! Health should be priority #2 next to safety!! Or consider them equal...

[DOC22 1]

I believe there may be a liability issue with having certain types of PE/PT equipment in the firehouse. If someone uses it without properly trained personnel there and they get hurt it could create quite a hassle.

[x635 4,066]

Health should be priority #2 next to safety!! Or consider them equal...

Well said....I just want to add a little.

Health is safety!! You need strength and endurance to do this job properly and safely. A fitness program is part of a safety program

Numerous studies have shown that with fatigue and poor condition, job site injuries, such as in construction, go up.

How are you going to save others if you can't save yourself?

This is a tool that EVERY FD should provide properly and completly, just like they provide training and turnout gear.

BTW, another benefit of better cardio-endurance is longer time on the air bottle.

Getting back to the topic, the County has the resources and the money to fund something or to oversee something like this....now somebody in power just needs to take the initiative and make it happen!!

[HFD209 4]

CPAT.. Currently im training for it. I think that is the best measure of firefighting endurance and activities. I can name people upon people who take upon the task of firefighter, who wouldnt even get half way done with the test. I think we need to take it upon ourselves to stay fit and get fit. its a good idea for your departments to help thier members in the payments. I juts think that relying on the county to do sothing sems a bit stretched out. Its our lives at stake, and we need to make sure we are fit to save our own or others.