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The Loveland Fire Rescue Authority recently received more than $900,000 in regional grant money that will go toward keeping those serving the city and surrounding area healthy.
Fire Chief Tim Sendelbach said the grant, amounting to $908,800, came through an Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. This money, he said, covers a number of health fields for firefighters including National Fire Protection Association compliant medical physicals, cancer screenings, immunizations and behavioral health assessments for members of the LFRA and other regional agencies, including Windsor, Greeley, Evans and Berthoud firefighters.
“It is the highest level of medical (treatment) a fire station can receive,” Sendelbach said of providing the physicals.
Sendelbach said this money will go to providing screenings and follow-ups across the lifetime of their firefighters as well as firefighter specific physicals and more, tackling firefighter health in the best way possible. He added that the idea, particularly with cancer screenings, is to follow firefighters from their first day through their last to track their health.
The department will begin using this money next year, Sendelbach said, when their current physical contract through Colorado State University expires. Sendelbach said the department is in the process of finding the right company to run the physicals and a permanent space for the health program through a bidding process.
He added that the department is hoping to turn part of its training center into a permanent health facility where area firefighters can go and consult with the same doctor.
While the department already does evaluations for its firefighters and works to prevent health problems through different means, the depth of coverage this grant will provide will go a long way to keep firefighters even healthier, Sendelbach said. He added that putting together the pieces of the wellness puzzle will be a great benefit, especially when firefighters and doctors are coming to know each other more closely.
“Most of us would go to a doctor, have a five minute conversation and boom (they) are on to the next patient,” he said. “In this case we are going to have a relationship with the doc where they are spending an hour to an hour and a half with individual patient.”
While the specifics are on the horizon, Sendelbach said he is excited to make good on the goal he announced as his top priority when he applied to be the department’s fire chief: firefighter health and wellness.
“My first priority is to make sure I have a healthy, fit and competent work force,” he said. “This is a step towards that, making sure I am looking out for their health and welfare.”
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