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A grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency will support and uplift South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã's firefighters — particularly the rural, volunteer workforce — with resources to assist them in meeting the physical demands of firefighting. 

Who do you call when there's a fire?

In larger cities, a full department of career firefighters are ready to respond to calls at a moment's notice. But for rural communities, volunteer firefighters — who also work as farmers and teachers and in other professions — answer the bell.

In the United States, roughly 65% of its 1.1 million firefighters are volunteers. In South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã, that number is even higher as 96% of all the state's firefighters are volunteers.

Volunteer firefighters are the backbone of many rural communities. They not only put out fires, but they assist during natural disasters, medical emergencies and other hazardous incidents. A research project from South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã State University's School of Health and Human Sciences is looking to support and uplift the state's firefighting workforce by providing resources and programming that ensures firefighters are physically up to the challenges of firefighting.

Previous research has found that firefighters, particularly volunteer firefighters, face an increased risk of sudden cardiac death. This is due to the presence of multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors and low levels of physical fitness.

Allison Barry is an SDSU assistant professor who specializes in research related to improving cardiorespiratory fitness in tactical populations, like police officers, firefighters and other first responders. As Barry notes, these professions are unique in that they require a certain base-level of physical fitness to do the job successfully. In large fire departments, career firefighters have the resources needed to ensure their physical aptitude. Volunteer firefighters in rural communities often do not have that luxury.

"South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã is unique with its high percentage of volunteer firefighters," Barry said. "The vast difference in geographical access of the departments across the state leads to distinct barriers. We are working with departments across the state to create holistic and feasible programming."

Barry's project, backed by a $600,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency Management Agency, is currently focused on better understanding the needs of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã's many fire departments. Alongside recent SDSU graduate Ashtyn Abraham, Barry conducted a survey on the perceptions of exercise, beliefs and behaviors of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã's firefighters.

"We wanted to get a baseline understanding of the beliefs, behaviors and the demographics of career and volunteer firefighters within the state of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã," Ashtyn said.

Ashtyn's sister, Ally, is also working with Barry on this project. This spring, she conducted a survey, specifically for fire departments, to understand the current infrastructure and health fitness resources they may or may not have available to them.

"We were looking to better understand the feasibility and barriers of health program initiatives," Ally said. "Do they have kitchen space? Do they have running water or electricity in their station? The resources available vary widely in South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã."

The Abraham sisters are particularly interested in Barry's project because their father is a volunteer firefighter in their hometown of Hazel, South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã.

"(Volunteer firefighters) volunteer out of the goodness of their hearts," Ashtyn said. "They want to help people, so we were curious how volunteer firefighters and their departments compare to the career firefighters. We wanted to see what barriers there might be and how we could address them."

Barry and the research team have connected with many of the state's departments. The response, Barry said, has been fantastic, and they have received far more responses to their surveys than they initially anticipated.

"We have gotten great buy-in from fire departments across the state of South à£à£Ö±²¥Ðã," Barry said.

Researchers on the project, set to begin its second year this summer, are analyzing the data from the surveys. They will then use that information to conduct focus groups with fire departments around the state to get a clear view of the needs and resources available. In year three of the project, SDSU will partner with a few fire departments to pilot their wellness and nutrition programs.

Programming development will be led by Barry but will include input from other faculty and staff members in the College of Education and Human Sciences. Marni Shoemaker, assistant professor and a registered dietician, will work on the nutrition initiatives alongside Megan Northrup, director for SDSU's accelerated graduate program in nutrition and dietetics. Seth Daughters, a former SDSU football player, a certified strength and conditioning coach, and instructor in the exercise science program, will assist in developing the exercise training program. Jessica Meendering, director of the School of Health and Human Sciences, brings her expertise in community-based research to assist in data collection.

The resources and expertise will be housed in the newly formed "First Responder Support Training Center" and will include support for other tactical populations, like police officers and emergency medical services personnel, as well.

In the meantime, a few of the undergraduate researchers on the project — Ally and Ella Danner — have created a monthly newsletter, "Wellness on the Frontline," to promote health and wellness for first responders across the state. As Barry found during initial discussions, firefighters are very interested in learning about the research being conducted on their profession. However, information on the research is often not readily available. The newsletter will serve as a communication tool to better inform firefighters and other first responders across the state.

"Growing up in a small town, so many of the people that we know are also volunteer firefighters. They all just want to help out because they have such a passion for their community," Ally said. "We want to be an advocate for them."