NVFC and Scott Safety Team Up to Offer Free Health and Wellness Training

March 12, 2012

Five online courses will be presented between March and July 

The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) has teamed up with Scott Safety to provide five webinars to firefighters and emergency service personnel. These workshops will give first responders the foundation they need to live healthy, reduce heart disease risk factors, and implement a successful department health and fitness program.

“Heart attack is the leading cause of firefighter fatalities, and a study we recently conducted on obesity in the fire service reinforced the need to focus on good nutrition and fitness to make sure we’re all at our best when the call comes in,” said NVFC Chairman Philip C. Stittleburg. “We must work to change the culture of the fire service to promote and advocate healthy lifestyles, and the first step to this is training. We are pleased to partner with Scott Safety to offer these important, potentially life-saving courses.”

The webinars, which are part of the NVFC’s Health and Wellness Advocate training initiative, will be taught by ACE-certified instructors from L&T Health and Fitness, an award-winning fitness and health management company. Each course will last 90 minutes and participants will be eligible for continuing education credit.

“Scott Safety believes that fitness and firefighter safety go hand in hand, and that is why we promote fitness through Firefighter Stair Climbs, the Scott Firefighter Combat Challenge, Scott Firefit, and the World Police & Fire Games,” said Jeff Emery, Scott Safety’s Marketing Manager – Fire Services. “We are excited to be partnering with the NVFC to provide this valuable training to our customers and encourage good fitness and nutrition within the volunteer firefighting community.”  

The five workshops focus on different aspects of health and wellness and the real-life implications for firefighters and emergency personnel. Together, the courses are designed to prepare first responders to be an advocate for wellness in their department and arm them with the tools they need to implement a healthy lifestyle and a healthy environment at the station.  Whether health is a personal goal or you are looking to start or expand a department-wide program, these courses will set you on the right path.

The following courses are being offered:

FIRST DUE: Human Function and the Exercise Response
Wednesday, March 21 – 2:00 pm ET
Click here to register.
This course covers the basic anatomy and physiology of the body as it is applicable to movement. Firefighters will learn how the body is supposed to move and how exercise can help, or a lack of physical activity can impair, the body’s ability to perform under pressure, during stress, and environmental constraints such extreme temperatures.

THE ACCELERANT: Physiology of Weight Loss and Healthful Nutrition
Wednesday, April 11 – 2:00 pm ET
This course reviews the effects of stress on the body, specifically as it relates to weight gain, and how to combat weight gain and hasten weight loss through fueling the metabolism to burn at a higher rate. The session also covers nutrition tips specific to fueling to metabolism with the right ratio components to accelerate the metabolic burn even more.

DIRECT ATTACK: Putting out the Health Risks and Increasing the Exercise Pump
Wednesday, May 9 – 2:00 pm ET
This course covers the major risk factors for heart disease and teaches firefighters how to identify those risks and modify physical activity appropriately in order to help extinguish the occurrences of heart attacks and line-of-duty injuries. This course also helps the firefighter learn how to design safe exercise programs that can be implemented for the “probie” exerciser all the way up to the “chief” exerciser to increase the firefighter’s physical abilities in cardiovascular endurance, strength, and flexibility.

FULL INVOLVEMENT: Firing Up Your Program
Wednesday, June 20 – 2:00 pm ET
The course helps firefighters take the lead as the Health and Wellness Advocate by establishing a sound action plan for their department’s Wellness Program. Participants will learn strategies to ignite full involvement – from their officers to their community – in the support and success of the program. This includes building a wellness team, creating an annual plan, establishing methods of gathering and evaluating data, and securing sponsors to support the health and wellness program.

EVOLUTION: Progressing through Functional Exercises to Improve Performance
Wednesday, July 11 – 2:00 pm ET
This course takes firefighters’ fitness training to a whole new level. Participants first learn the theories behind functional training and the importance of functionally-based exercises in their fitness programs. Participants will then have the opportunity to put their physical capabilities to the test by taking part in a functional exercise program (FEP) through an online video incorporated into the course. The FEP uses ten exercises that target specific firefighter movements and actions, and each exercise challenges 90 percent of the body to work.