The impact of climate change and the high-level humidity in Singapore will inevitably induce greater physiological strain on the general population and even more so for the local emergency responders who carry heavy loads such as firefighting and rescue equipment…
Food on the Stove is changing the culture of health in Washington, D.C. firehouses
Food on the Stove is a Washington, D.C.-based non-profit organization founded to promote healthy lifestyle management among firefighters. With programmes ranging from healthy cooking demonstrations to partnerships with local farms that supply food to firehouses, this firefighter-operated and focused organization…
Firefighters fight mental health problems
Firefighters are particularly at risk of work-related stress and mental health problems because of the nature of their work. As a sector, there is increasing focus on the mental health and wellbeing of staff and TeamDoctor is delighted to be…
Melbourne Station Office wins a scholarship to study mindfulness
The Emergency Services Foundation in Australia awards a scholarship each year for up and coming leaders to study best practice in the field of well being for emergency service workers. We are delighted to announce one of this year’s recipients…
Model behaviour
A simple way of minimising firefighters’ exposure to hazardous chemicals on the job, after the job, and between jobs. It all started in 2006, when the fire station in a small town in northern Sweden began to implement simple strategies…
Is your fire service prepared? Firefighter cardiac arrest – Part 2
As discussed in part one there is a high physiological risk associated with firefighting and its environmental conditions. Some of these include exposure to high heat and humidity and an environment of high toxicological risk. In part one of this…
Is your fire service prepared? Firefighter cardiac arrest – Part 1
As all of us know, firefighting is a dangerous profession and it is increasingly evident that firefighters are at a much higher cardiovascular risk than any other profession; this is due to a range of different exposures and workloads created…
Psychological preparedness and vulnerability
Bushfires and other natural disasters are becoming increasingly frequent and more severe. Australian bushfire projections suggest that by 2020 the number of days classified as ‘very extreme’ bushfire risk will double and by 2050 there may be as high as…
Sleep deprived but getting the job done
After 17 hours without sleep, impairments in your mental performance are similar to those of blood alcohol levels of 0.05. Your reflexes are slower, your judgement is impaired and what is worse, you may not even be aware of your…