RICHMOND--Most Virginia fire departments cannot supply breathing gear and portable radios for all on-duty firefighters, and only a small percentage have fitness programs even though cardiac arrest is the leading killer of firefighters, a state survey found.
The state agency that conducted the study called the findings "troubling."
So did firefighters.
Funding "for the fire service in Virginia is woefully inadequate," said R. Michael Mohler, a Fairfax County fire captain and president of Virginia Professional Fire Fighters.
Large fire departments are funded primarily by the localities they serve. Other departments, particularly in rural areas, must raise money through donation drives, charitable gaming and community events such as barbecues and stew sales.
Only 15 percent of fire departments in Virginia have fitness and health programs for firefighters, the study found.
The report noted that one-half of firefighter deaths nationally over the past 20 years were attributed to heart attack. The deaths occurred while firefighters were responding, fighting or returning from a blaze.
"It's really critical" to be in good physical shape, said Adam K. Thiel, a former firefighter who heads the state Department of Fire Programs.
"When you are a firefighter, you never have home-field advantage," said Thiel. "It's an extremely physical job. It's pretty punishing."
Mohler said "there is a tremendous need" for conditioning programs.
The Department of Fire Programs surveyed the state's 599 fire departments last fall, and 431, or 72 percent, responded.
The department's report said it is an "absolute necessity" for firefighters to have access to self-contained breathing apparatus when battling fires, but noted that "only those Virginia departments serving the largest populations [are] currently able to provide SCBA for all responders on duty."
"Unbelievable!" said Mohler.
"Pretty troubling," said Thiel. The breathing systems, costing about $3,000 each, are "an essential item of protective equipment that a firefighter must have," he said.
Spotsylvania County, which participated in the survey, is in a better situation than many departments as far as having enough breathing equipment.
A federal grant awarded last year provided $512,400 that went a long way in helping buy 210 new self-contained breathing apparatuses for firefighters.
The county paid another $220,000 to get the gear, which has now been distributed for use, Chris Eudailey, director of the county Fire, Rescue and EMS Department, said yesterday.
Each piece of equipment is fitted with an alert that will sound if a firefighter becomes incapacitated or disoriented, Eudailey said.
The new breathing equipment replaces pieces that were 12 to 15 years old and didn't meet standards put into place after Sept. 11, 2001.
But Spotsylvania doesn't have enough portable radios for every person on staff. It has one for each officer and each truck and ambulance.
Currently, the county is among those without a formal or mandatory fitness program.
But Eudailey said he hopes to rectify that when three new fire stations are built.
His goal is to equip each new station with a fitness room and to then make workouts mandatory.
Currently, personnel are given an hour per day, three days a week, to work out on their own.
"It's hard to require people to do something if you don't give them the tools to accomplish that," he said.
In Stafford County, all firefighters--paid and volunteer--have their own breathing apparatuses.
Over the last several years, the county has been replacing the self-contained breathing systems station by station, Stafford Emergency Services Director Chuck Thompson said yesterday.
The Widewater Volunteer Fire Department is the only firehouse that hasn't received the new equipment, but it will this year, Thompson said.
The county does not have a mandatory fitness program for its eight volunteer fire departments. But Stafford's 31 paid firefighters are given five hours each week to devote to fitness and must pass a physical challenge each year, Thompson said.
Stafford doesn't have a portable radio for each and every firefighter, but Thompson says "we have them coming out of our ears."
There are two portable radios on every firetruck, and speciality pieces like ladder trucks and rescue squads have three.
In addition, each chief officer has a radio and there's a spare at each station.
"There's a generalized perception that every firefighter ought to a have portable," Thompson said. "The way we do it works just fine."
The statewide survey also found that only the four fire departments serving the state's largest localities are able to provide all on-duty firefighters with portable radios, even though communication failures are often blamed for firefighter fatalities.
"Staffing shortages require us too often to operate alone," said Mohler. "If you have to operate alone you have to have communication with people outside the building. You could be in there trapped and have no way of communicating."
Another safety device used by firefighters is the personal alert safety system that was developed to help rescuers find lost, trapped or injured firefighters. The survey found that all on-duty firefighters are outfitted with the device in the largest Virginia fire departments, but that many smaller departments reported having "some" or "none" of their firefighters equipped with the system.
The report also said that many firefighters in Virginia have not received formal training in handling hazardous-material events, despite federal requirements for such training dating back more than 20 years. Nearly 20 percent of Virginia fire departments that respond to hazmat incidents have no one certified "at the most basic awareness competency level," said the report, calling the findings "especially problematic given the increasing threat of terrorism."
The General Assembly will use the report to make funding decisions about the fire service in Virginia. A special Fire Programs Fund provides some state money, but the state general fund traditionally has not provided money to fire departments.
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