Firefighter Wellness Radio’s guest tonight is Dan Kerrigan & Jim Moss who are the co-authors of Firefighter Functional Fitness. It is the essential guide to optimal firefighter performance and longevity. It provides all firefighters with the knowledge, tools, and mindset to maximize their fireground performance, reduce their risk of injury and line-of-duty death, and have long, healthy careers and retirements. Website: FirefighterFunctionalFitness.com, Twitter: @FirefighterFFit, Facebook: @FirefighterFFit Instagram: @FirefighterFunctionalFitness Your host Mark W Lamplugh Jr is a 4th generation firefighter and former Captain with Lower Chichester Fire Company(PA). Mark has been instrumental in the creation of several addiction and PTSD programs throughout the United States over ...
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Firefighter Mullins loved his career. He never got tired of the adrenaline rush that came on at the sound of the alarm bell. He always found it hard to unwind after a life-threatening call, so he and the other firefighters almost always had a few drinks before they went home. Firefighter Mullins didn’t think he had an addiction to alcohol, although, he was always the first one to arrive at the bar and the last one to leave. He might even have another drink when he got home—just to help him get to sleep. His wife had cautioned him that ...
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Addiction is a mental disorder which affects millions of Americans across the nation. Addiction is characterized by a chronic inability to refrain from behavior which is harmful to the addict. The user feels a compulsion to continue engaging in this behavior, despite repeated painful experiences. Often, the addiction, in fact, continues to grow out of control, with the addict taking increasingly greater measures to ensure access to their preferred method of stimulation, and willing to accept more significant risks. In the end, the user often needs to engage in this behavior to feel normal. Although it is possible to be ...
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Frontline’s (www.frontlinerehab.com)Very Own Mark Lamplugh kicks off his first show of “Firefighter Wellness Radio” for Fire Engineering Blog Talk. Mark Lamplugh is a fourth-generation firefighter and former captain with the Lower Chichester (PA) Fire Company. He was the Chief Executive Officer of 360 Wellness Inc. (http://www.360wellness.org/) and is currently the Vice President with Advanced Health & Education (www.advhealth.com) and their Frontline Program (www.frontlinerehab.com). Lamplugh is also nationally recognized in Crisis Stress Intervention through the American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress. He has helped hundreds of firefighters, police officers, veterans, EMS personnel, and civilians nationwide find help for addiction, alcoholism, PTSD, and ...
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At bars, restaurants and homes across America, many adults enjoy alcoholic beverages responsibly. However, there are those for whom drinking becomes a deadly addiction that sours personal and professional relationships and endangers lives. It’s no small number, either – according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine, nearly 18 million adults have an alcohol use disorder. Firefighters are disproportionately affected. Among the 112 career firefighters surveyed in the study “Sleep Problems, Depression, Substance Use, Social Bonding, and Quality of Life in Professional Firefighters,” 80% used alcohol (averaging about one to two drinks per day), 56% binge drank (four or more ...
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It may be surprising to learn that firefighting makes the top ten list of jobs that provides a good life/work balance. According to Glassdoor, a jobs and recruiting site, their 2014 report shows that firefighting ranks just under occupations like a group fitness instructor, user experience designer, and corporate communications as one of the jobs that provides the best work/life balance. By contrast, just one year later, firefighting doesn’t even make the top 25 Glassdoor occupations for work/life balance in 2015. The discrepancy from one year to the next may have something to do with the fact that firefighting does ...
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A job search firm, Career Cast, lists the occupation of firefighting as one of the Most Dangerous Jobs of 2015. Beyond the obvious risks of smoke inhalation and burns, what makes firefighting so dangerous? A 2008 study showed that 61.7% of firefighters received on-the-job injuries of fractures, sprains, or muscle injuries. Other injuries included wounds, fire or heat burns, chemical burns, respiratory problems, skin exposure, and heart attacks or strokes. While those types of physical injuries will heal over time, firefighters breathe in smoke on nearly every call. Smoke is filled with dangerous carcinogens that settle into the firefighter’s lungs ...
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We all have had rough shifts. Maybe it was only one call. Alternatively, perhaps you have had months of nothing but the worst. Maybe you are looking back over a career full of bad calls. As a firefighter, it is your job to step in and help people in situations that might be the worst moment in their life. However, what happens when the call is over, and your shift is done? You can’t just drop the images alongside your boots and walk away. Deciding how to process those tough calls can make or break you. Not all Kitty Cats ...
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Working As a Firefigher With PTSD – Smoke in the air. The blaring alarm. Every firefighter knows the rush of emotions that fill the heart when it’s time to roll. Excitement. Anticipation. Fear. Is this the Big One? Is today the day my number’s up? However, in the gung-ho fire environment, too often the feelings that haunt us are pushed down to the bottom. Nobody wants to look weak in front of his or her teammates. Nobody wants to be “that Guy”. So we repress, force a grim smile, and get back to work. The things we’ve seen stay with ...
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If you have a job as a First Responder, whether it be as a Law Enforcement Officer, a Paramedic, or a Firefighter, you start each shift with the understanding that it could be your last. The risks of injuries and even death are increasing in alarming numbers for each of those professions. But as a firefighter, you get the luxury of being surrounded by supportive coworkers, taking turns cooking meals, and having your own secure place to train and relax between calls. As a paramedic, you get the fulfillment of seeing new life enter the world, you get to help ...
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