Aim: Firefighters need to be physically fitter
than persons in other occupational groups.
They are liable to high cardiac strain, especially
when working with breathing apparatus
or being exposed to heat. The aim of this clinical
study was to record the physical fitness of
professional firefighters on the one hand and
to develop and evaluate a programme for improving
their fitness on the other.
Method: 139 professional firefighters – average
age 38.2 (SD = 9.3) years – took part in
the study and had to complete a 12-month
fitness programme. At the beginning and at
the end of the course a set of medical data
was collected (blood pressure, glucose, cholesterol,
triglycerides) and, in addition, bicycle
ergometry to determine cardiopulmonary
stamina and a fitness test were carried out.
Results: The image of the firefighter as an
above-the-average healthy and physically
able man could only be confirmed in part. An
unexpectedly high percentage of firefighters
is at high risk health-wise. 40.3 % have three
or more cardiac-related risk factors. Many are
overweight (53.4 %) or obese (22.1 %), about
a third are hypertonic and suffer from fat imbalance.
In addition, their level of stamina was
unsatisfactory. After the firefighters had completed
the fitness programme, their health
situation had changed only insignificantly.
Conclusions: The 12-month fitness course
was a partial failure. One of the reasons for
this was that the firefighters misjudged their
own physical ability which led to falsely optimistic
conclusions. Firefighters overrate
their physical fitness and thus consider their
health not to be at risk. They must therefore
be made more aware of risk factors. Furthermore
it is essential for them to lose weight
and increase their stamina.
