Feb. 08--On Feb. 21, 2013, Scott Cain believes he was given a second chance at life.
It was a day that would start a massive upheaval of his lifestyle, leaving him healthier and stronger. The change is one he hopes to share with his brothers in the fire service.
He worries he won't be able to protect some of them from a similar fate.
Cain was driving on Route 74 toward his job at RL Livingston in Dillsburg when he felt excruciating chest pain.
He began to sweat. The pain traveled into his shoulder blade.
Cain weighed 278 pounds.
He was a heavy smoker.
He was having a heart attack.
He drove the half mile more with the window down. He walked into his boss' office and dropped to his knees.
"I'm having the big one," he said, gasping.
When he was helped to a chair, tears rolled down his cheeks.
In four minutes, an ambulance arrived to take him to York Hospital.
He spent the rest of the day with his then girlfriend, Teresa, waiting on blood, EKG and stress test results.
The next morning, a doctor would place two stents where 95 percent of Cain's right coronary artery was blocked.
"It's weird to explain, but I felt rejuvenated," Cain said. "I could feel my pulse in my ankles, my chest and my hands. It's 100 percent open now."
But the next few months of his life would leave Cain feeling vulnerable and weak.
He was often afraid to be left alone.
What would he do if it happened again? Was he safe?
What did God want for him in all of this?
Nearly a year later and 60 pounds lighter, Cain has a new focus: to prevent this from happening to others.
As fire chief with Yoe Fire Company, Cain knows the statistics: A heart attack is the No. 1 cause of on-duty death for a firefighter.
Not smoke inhalation. Not being in a burning building.
More than 50 percent of firefighter deaths are related to heart attacks, according to the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation. The foundation records the deaths based on the Public Safety Officers Benefit Fund qualifications, which provides death benefits to the families of police officers and firefighters who die in the line of duty.
The benefit fund includes those who died within 24 hours after leaving a scene or during training, which in most cases is when a heart attack occurs, said Jeanne Tobia, fire program specialist with the foundation. In most cases, preventative steps can be taken to prevent the physical triggers for a heart attack.
The sudden rush of adrenaline when a firefighter goes from a resting moment to the intensity of responding to a call can be just enough to take a life.
According to the Mayo Clinic, adrenaline increases your heart rate, blood pressure and energy supplies. Studies have shown that people who are sedentary most of the time, and then suddenly engage in heavy, physical activity, are most at risk for a heart attack, the website reports.
Most volunteer firefighters have full-time jobs outside of the fire service that don't require the same physical demand. Strenuous exercise or activity followed by immediate rest, such as a firefighter getting a call in the middle of the night, can be a shock to the system, putting them at greater risk, Tobia said.
As little as 150 minutes of exercise a week is enough to lower the risk of heart attack in normally sedentary people, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Cain knows the work that's required to revamp your life after a heart attack. He hopes his firefighters can make that change before one of them becomes another statistic.
Small changes
Just a few days before his heart attack, Cain had made an acknowledgement of his faith and was baptized Feb. 10 at York Christian Church.
"I thought I was saved, which in some terms meant I was safe," Cain said.
He felt that God was trying to tell him something after his heart attack -- that maybe God had bigger plans for him.
But it would be a long road to getting there.
After the heart attack, Cain said, he felt depressed.
He didn't want Teresa to leave him alone. He sometimes felt like he was having another heart attack when his coronary artery would spasm, which he was told was normal for those recovering from a heart attack, he said.
"You feel worthless," Cain said. "You think of all the things you could be doing but you're too scared."
He was to return to work at RL Livingston about three weeks after his heart attack.
On March 7, he was laid off.
"It really takes a toll on you mentally," he said. "I almost bought the 'big one.' You're supposed to have a job and this routine to go back to after a heart attack. It wasn't there for me."
Cain paid to continue health insurance he had at work, and that helped pay for his cardio rehab. He went three days a week for six weeks and worked out for an hour and a half each time.
"It got me healthy, not only physically, but it made me mentally fit," Cain said.
He also credits Teresa for helping him change his life.
"A lot of the changes I made, to eat better, to exercise -- she was behind it," he said.
On July 20, they were married.
"That's a date you don't forget," Cain said. "Best decision I ever made."
They walk together, avoiding elevators in favor of stairs. Cain gets up at 5:30 every morning and heads to the basement to ride the exercise bike and lift 10- and 20-pound dumbbells.
They avoid fried foods and instead eat steamed vegetables, chicken and fish.
The man who once says his daily diet featured pizza and chicken wings hadn't eaten fast food since his heart attack until he was in an airport recently. He had a Wendy's burger. No cheese. Extra veggies.
Nearly a year after the heart attack, he's lost 68 pounds.
He'll be 54 in May, but said "some days I feel like I'm in my 30s."
Being an example
Tim Stem had been watching Cain for some time.
A lieutenant with Yoe Fire Company, Stem had also tried to get into shape and had lost about 40 pounds by working out three to four times a week and watching what he ate.
"We're out all hours of the day and night, which makes it difficult to stay on top of your health," Stem said.
Despite having lost weight, Stem said, he's gained about 15 to 20 pounds back.
He decided last year to go to Cain with the idea to create a group gym membership so the members of the fire company could exercise together.
"It's kind of a support group," Stem said. "It's easier to go as a group, and I know I need it as much for myself as I think others would benefit from it."
Cain's heart attack had rocked the members of the fire department.
"It's a family down there and you don't want to see anyone sick," Stem said.
Since the transformation, Cain said, he's had three or four people tell him that his experience caused them to look at their own diets.
"A lot of people sat back and said, 'Wow,'" Cain said. "In its own funny way it captures people's attention."
While heart attacks remains a big concern for firefighters, other emergency responders have made their own changes for a healthier lifestyle.
Jeff Dunbar decided a year ago that he was "tired of feeling fat."
Every time he bent over to tie his shoe, it was like he couldn't breathe.
He works full-time as a sergeant with York Area Regional Police but volunteers as a fire truck driver with Yoe Fire Company, allowing him to keep his feet in the fire service he worked in as a younger man.
He had been active as a K-9 handler for the police department in previous years, but after he was promoted and started doing more desk work, his weight climbed to about 235 pounds.
"I just felt uncomfortable," Dunbar said.
He decided a year ago, when he was about ready to buy the next pant size up, that he'd make a change.
The first step was portion control. He stopped eating the last two bites from the mashed potatoes bowl just to avoid throwing it out.
He makes extra food, but packs leftovers away. He puts down the fork when he's satisfied.
Instead of going to Sheetz or McDonald's when he works a late shift, he packs a salad.
It has to have meat if he's going to count it as a meal. His favorite is grilled chicken Caesar salad.
He knows the dressing isn't the healthiest, but the small change of eating more greens and leaner meat was enough to help him.
In a year, he dropped 40 pounds.
He went down two pant sizes in his police uniform.
"It's willpower," he said. "If you really want to do it, you can."
Another member on the police force throws around the saying, "Eat to live, don't live to eat."
It's something Dunbar said he thinks of often.
And while he cuts down on how much he eats, Dunbar has learned to appreciate moderation.
He works out on Monday nights at the Jewish Community Center, where the officers have free gym memberships. But on Tuesdays, he likes to go out for tacos and a beer.
"I found what I could cut and what worked for me," he said. "I can't do the physical things I did 25 years ago, but I know I can do more than I could a year ago."
New standards
Before he was sworn in as Yoe Fire Company's chief, Cain was already working to get a program set up for his firefighters.
When they have family style meals in the fire house, they plan healthier foods. Instead of ordering a bunch of pizzas and chicken wings, they make spaghetti and salad.
The next step is to get everyone active.
Cain met with the owner of Anytime Fitness in Windsor Township and took advantage of a "heroes" discount the gym provides to police, fire officials, EMTs and military members.
The plan will be presented to the fire company's executive board on Feb. 1 and then to the general body on Feb. 8.
While they are required the formality of a vote, Cain doesn't see anything that would hinder the plan from going through.
At the January meeting, the idea was already presented to the company to let it stew in their minds.
"This isn't going to be a forced issued," Cain said. "We just want people to feel they can participate if they want to."
The gym fees should be covered by the fire company's incentive funds, which sometimes provides gas cards or other items to the firefighters who volunteer their time.
Once everything is settled on paper, Cain envisions himself and a couple of the guys piling into a truck and heading to the gym together. They'll work side-by-side on a treadmill, a bike or the weight machines.
He worries about some of the guys he knows in the volunteer service who were in the same position he was in a year ago.
They don't eat the right foods. They're overweight.
He doesn't like feeling that he's just waiting for a phone call from the hospital.
"The fire service is a family service," he said. "These guys are my brothers. I have to protect them."
Contact Rebecca LeFever at 717-771-2088.
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has made it a priority to prevent cardiovascular deaths among firefighters.
Not only are firefighters at risk for heart disease because of age, gender, high blood pressure and lack of exercise, but there are other factors that contribute to their risk.
Particles in smoke, carbon monoxide exposure, heat stress and noise exposure, makes it even more likely they will suffer a heart attack, the agency said.
A study released by NIOSH in 2007 showed the peer-related exercise programs proved effective in preventing and reducing heart attacks in firefighters.
For more information on the study, visit www.cdc.gov/niosh or call 800-356-4674.
Copyright 2014 - York Daily Record, Pa.
