Wildland Firefighter Rehab

[Whatajob]

I need some info to support a rehab kit on our wildland units. We have had good kits in the past with water coolers, Gatorade, nuts, granola etc. Now with cut backs we have water coolers four Little Debbie cookies and four 25 cent granola bars.
I need some hard data on why we need more than this.
I will appreciate any help.

[craigsheets]

Well.....where to start. We have had a fireground rehab unit for almost 6 years and we still don't know everything but here is what we learned from FEMA and some doctors from our area.

Firefighters burn a lot of energy as we all know however they should not be eating things like "Little Debbie Cakes" or cheesburgers or pizza. The reason is that the body will use more energy to break down these things because of the high protein or high refined sugar content. The things they recommend are things like fruit in the single serving cups and granola bars, peanut butter crackers, fluid based soups and stews (like beef stew, chicken noodle soup,etc..) these things provide some quick energy and they also provide some lasting energy and not to mention more nutrients than a Little Debbie Cake. Also you need to make sure electrolytes are being replaced with the water. Gatorade and other type sports drinks are a great source for this and you need to be aware that too much Gatorade type drinks too fast can actually cause diarrhea too. So they need to be consumed with equal amounts of plain water too. Ex: one quart gatorade type drink to one quart water. You can get written information from the FEMA website and it is free too. Anything I can help you with let me know you can e-mail me directly at craigsheets@cox.net

[NJFFSA16]

http://www.jems.com/jems/exclus03/f0101.html

[Whatajob]

Thanks for the info. It will help alot.