Guns and Hoses Fitness Challenge Saves Lives

     Brad Winter, EMT-I, is a big guy. The 6´1" Lafayette Township (OH) Fire Department firefighter weighed in at 308 pounds on January 8, 2005. But he was determined to bring that down a bit in the 12-week "Guns & Hoses Fitness Challenge" program started by Medina, OH, fitness specialist Carole Laney. Laney, whose sister was badly burned in a car accident as a teenager, wanted to address two passions with one program. Her idea was to improve the fitness of northeast Ohio public safety personnel, while raising money for Akron's Children's Hospital Burn Unit. And, as if offering a new way for rescue types to help others wasn't enough incentive, she added a grand prize trip for two to Las Vegas for the winner.

     "It was a win-win situation," says Winter, who has struggled with weight his entire life. "If I failed to lose weight, I knew at least the money would do somebody else some good. And there was always Vegas lingering in the back of my mind."

     The Guns & Hoses Fitness Challenge kicked off with an initial weigh-in and a two-hour seminar that was more a training in how the body burns fuel than about weight loss, says Laney, a certified personal trainer. Fifty-two registrants from the Medina Life Support Team, Lafayette Fire Department and several northeast Ohio sheriff's and police departments learned how the body's metabolism works. They also received instruction on the particulars of good carbs and bad carbs, proteins and a grocery list to make it all easy at the store.

     Laney, herself a former member of a volunteer fire department, insists fitness is not about weight loss, dieting or strenuous exercise: "I'm teaching people how to listen to their bodies. Fitness is about getting healthy: changing your life."

     Winter says he can testify to how much stronger he feels. "Before the Challenge, I wasn't sleeping; my joints, legs and back hurt all the time."

     Yet, he confesses to worrying more about getting a big enough serving than about the toll his size was taking on his health. All that turned around, he says, and now he not only enjoys leftovers for lunch, but "I'm sleeping all night and I can say I am pretty much pain free."

     In fact, Winter won the challenge, losing almost 46 pounds in 12 weeks. He has continued working on his "new lifestyle," losing nearly 20 more pounds since program completion by keeping tabs on what and how much he eats and exercising just 35 minutes a day.

     The Challenge raised $2,500 for Akron Hospital's branch of Aluminum Cans for Burned Children (ACBC), the national organization created by firefighters to raise money for burn survivors.

     Only 17 of the original 52 made it through the entire 12 weeks, but those who did lost a total of 262 pounds.

     Laney says, "Some people committed, some people didn't. Many dropped out because they felt that they had failed and wanted to try again next year."

     She thinks she's figured out the problem, though, and plans to reprise the program in 2006 with one major difference: "We'll be opening up the challenge to all the spouses and children. Lifestyle change is much easier when the whole family's involved."

     As a final note, two other parts to this program are well worth imitating if your agency is trying to improve members' health: combining it with a fundraiser dear to your hearts and utilizing the services of a fitness specialist. A great cause and helpful coaching just might be the twin engines for an EMS family's commitment to getting fit. To find a fitness specialist near you, visit www.nsca-lift.org.