FIREFIGHTER HEALTH AND FITNESS ASSESSMENT: ACALL TO ACTION THOMAS W. STORER, 1 BRETT A. DOLEZAL, 1 MARLON L. ABRAZADO, 1 DENISE L. SMITH, 2 MAXIM A. BATALIN, 3 CHI-HONG TSENG, 4 AND CHRISTOPHER B. COOPER, 1 THE PHASER STUDY GROUP 1 Exercise Physiology Research Laboratory, Departments of Medicine and Physiology, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; 2 First Responder Health and Safety Laboratory, Department of Health and Exercise Sciences, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, New York; 3 Institute for Technology Advancement, Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California; and 4 Division of Biostatistics, Department of Medicine, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California–Los Angeles, Los Angeles, California ABSTRACT Storer, TW, Dolezal, BA, Abrazado, ML, Smith, DL, Batalin, MA, Tseng, C-H, and Cooper, CB; The PHASER Study Group. Firefighter health and fitness assessment: A call to action. J Strength Cond Res 28(3): 661–671, 2014—Sudden cardiac deaths experienced by firefighters in the line of duty account for the largest proportion of deaths annually. Several fire service standards for fitness and wellness have been recommended but currently only 30% of U.S. fire departments are implementing programs for this purpose. The Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate has initiated the Physiolog- ical Health Assessment System for Emergency Responders (PHASER) program aiming to reduce these line-of-duty deaths through an integration of medical science and sensor technolo- gies. Confirming previous reports, PHASER comprehensive risk assessment has identified lack of physical fitness with propensity for overexertion as a major modifiable risk factor. We sought to determine if current levels of fitness and cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors in a contemporary cohort of firefighters were better than those reported over the past 30 years. Fifty-one fire- fighters from a Southern California department were characterized for physical fitness and CVD risk factors using standard meas- ures. Overall, physical fitness and risk factors were not different from previous reports of firefighter fitness and most subjects did not achieve recommended fitness standards. Considering the lack of widespread implementation of wellness/fitness programs in the U.S. fire service together with our findings that low physical fitness and the presence of CVD risk factors persist, we issue a call to action among health and fitness professionals to assist the fire service in implementing programs for firefighters that improve fitness and reduce CVD risk factors. Fitness profes- sionals should be empowered to work with fire departments lending their expertise to guide programs that achieve these objectives, which may then lead to reduced incidence of sud- den cardiac death or stroke. KEY WORDS cardiovascular disease risk factors, line-of-duty deaths, risk mitigation INTRODUCTION F irefighters in the United States have only aver- age physical fitness and, of particular concern, have high rates of excess weight and obesity (11,16,17,22,25,35–37,47). These characteristics are incompatible with the well-characterized physical demands of firefighting. These include high-intensity work in thermally intense environments while wearing heavy (approximately 22 kg) and cumbersome personal protective equipment (PPE) and carrying and using tools needed to perform specific job tasks (8,10,16,17,22,25,36,39,43). In this context, suboptimal fitness and excess body weight result in a mismatch with the high- energy demands required by firefighters, a combination that may provide a trigger for sudden line-of-duty cardiovascular or cerebrovascular events (1). Indeed, recent data have revealed that these events account for about 49% of firefighter line-of- duty deaths (12) and remain the number 1 cause of firefighter fatalities (50,51). Lack of physical fitness and the decondition- ing, which lead to overexertion plus unrecognized cardiovas- cular disease (CVD) risk factors, are among the prominent contributory risks toward line-of-duty injuries and deaths (12). A recent National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) needs assessment continued to emphasize the need for health and wellness programs and also reported that 70% of fire departments still have no such programs (33). Consistent with this finding, Soteriades et al. (42) reported that infrequent amounts of physical activity are common in the fire service and that most departments do not mandate regular exercise Address correspondence to Thomas W. Storer, tstorer@mednet.ucla.edu. 28(3)/661–671 Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Ó 2014 National Strength and Conditioning Association VOLUME 28 | NUMBER 3 | MARCH 2014 | 661 Copyright © National Strength and Conditioning Association Unauthorized reproduction of this article is prohibited.