This page highlights how an AFG grant was used to carry out life-saving stress tests at the Aurora Fire Department. This page is intended for fire departments and nonaffiliated Emergency Medical Service organizations (EMS).
A Fire Chief's Life Saved by AFG Operations & Safety - Wellness & Fitness Program
Aurora, OH – The town of Aurora is located approximately 39 miles Southeast of Cleveland, Ohio. The Aurora Fire Department covers an urban area. 80 percent of the jurisdiction is used for residential purposes and 20 percent is comprised of commercial, industrial, and institutional facilities. Aurora is approximately 25 square miles and is inhabited by over 15,000 residents, but, thanks to the local amusement park, the population can swell by an additional 50,000 during summer months. The Aurora Fire Department is also part of a network of stations that assist and cover the Northeast region of Ohio, which has a dense population of over 3.4 million. As is common across many regions, the department operates under a very tight budget.
According to an Aurora Fire Department representative, "most of the tax burden falls on the residential homeowner who already pays among the highest real estate property taxes in the county. 85 percent of these taxes fund the schools. Of the remainder, 92 percent of our department funds will go toward salaries, leaving the remainder to go toward equipment and operations costs." This leaves no funding available for ancillary programs such as health and wellness programs.
DHS/FEMA's Assistance to Firefighters Grants—Operations & Safety, Health and Fitness Program was able to assist the Aurora Fire Department with the outfitting of new exercise equipment, the provision of physical exams and health & strength screening, and periodic physical & strength screening. According to the National Fire Academy and the National Fire Protection Association, heart attacks were responsible for the deaths of 48 firefighters in 2005. This is considered commonplace in emergency response professions where responders can go from a relaxed state, to a highly stressful state in short order, and then that cycle can be repeated throughout a long period of time.
The newly implemented physicals and stress tests would prove vital in a life-saving discovery with Aurora Fire Department's very own Fire Chief, David Barnes.
Chief Barnes remarked that "firefighters were sent for physical exams resulting in four members who had possible problems detected and needed follow-up care. I was the one who required that everyone go for the physical and I was the one who benefitted the most. My stress test showed a ST segment depression, which means a reduced ability for the heart to pump blood, in the inferior and lateral leads when my heart rate exceeded 130. My cardiologist ordered a nuclear stress test and a diagnostic heart catheterization to make sure everything was good. The catheter test revealed a 90 percent blockage in the circumflex artery and an 80 percent blockage in the right coronary artery."
Surgeries were performed, but it was the physical exam that most likely saved Chief Barnes from suffering a massive heart attack while exercising or responding to a call.
What They Bought With The Grant:
- Cardio Equipment
- Exercise Equipment
- Annual Physicals
- Fitness Assessments and Counseling