GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- As fire service leaders have sought to improve the occupational health of firefighters, they realized the problem was larger than increasing muscle mass and improving cardiac health; cultural changes were required to promote healthy lifestyles, improve mental health, reduce risk of cancer, and decrease injury rates. This has led the fire service to adopt 16 life safety initiatives including improved incident response training, public education and code enforcement, academic research, and firefighter health and safety.
The 312th Training Squadron, the Wolfpack, along with personnel from the Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Department recently completed a course to improve their “tactical athlete” mindset, directly addressing three of the initiatives. Approximately 35 personnel, both civilian and military from all branches of service, took part in a four-day training session guiding participants through an Eat-Sleep-Thrive methodology.
Experts from around the country led the workshop, which included a daily physical component as well as focused lectures and sessions critical to establishing and maintaining lifelong healthy habits. The lectures addressed many of the problems faced by tactical athletes: cancer, cardiac disease, injuries, behavioral health, depression, anxiety, burnout and fatigue.
The facilitator, co-founder and former U.S. Navy Seal, Mr. Adam La Reau, along with two other former special operators, kept the group moving through their paces with little downtime while sharing previous experiences and lessons learned.
The topics covered areas such as nutrition, strength and conditioning, but also included speakers on subjects ranging from movement technique with, Hub Parkour Training Center Owner, Mr. Dylan Polin to sleep performance with California Polytechnic University Psychology and Child Development Assistant Professor, Dr. Kelly Bennion. Participants identified their own physiological stress factors and practiced techniques designed to calm breathing and improve focus.
During the physical training components, participants practiced varying workouts, some with equipment and some using body weight only. One day, participants competed against the clock and another day had team competitions. The course also provided instruction on injury prevention techniques and included a session of yoga nidra to demonstrate the power of deep relaxation.
Providing this training to fire academy instructors is an important step in improving firefighter resilience for new firefighters in the field as they begin lifelong careers as tactical athletes.