Public Safety Wellness and Injury Prevention
Developing and implementing an Injury Prevention and Wellness Curriculum
We realize that the needs of each county-agency-department vary. Our programs are not pre-packaged, we design each program specifically for the needs of each agency based on financial, time, size and continuing education constraints.
TARGET: To provide a series of Lectures and Wellness/Injury Prevention Consulting following the principles of the Fit Responder Program.
- To demonstrate the need for preventative exercise to alleviate the postural distortions inherent to Public Safety.
- To teach the simple techniques of self massage and on duty stretching for all field crews.
- To show how a simple approach to wellness will help decrease weight and alleviate stress.
- To demonstrate exercises that are not only fun but will increase agility, balance, and combat obesity.
- To show a series of simple techniques that will significantly reduce the risk of injury.
- To set up a cost effective fitness area in each station.
Establishing fitness, wellness and good nutrition habits is the common denominator for a healthy and productive life. The need to be fit and healthy in Public Safety calls for a non-traditional approach to be developed. This approach should consider (1) safe exercises that will not contribute to injury (2) the specific biomechanics of PS (3) on duty fitness to make use of time in between calls (4) wellness strategies for stress reduction and proper nutrition (5) spine and core stabilization exercises to reduce the risk of injury.
Studies show that at any one time as many as 10% of a work force is out with an injury, with the average cost of Lower back injury at $9,000 per occurrence. Additional studies have shown that 49% of surveyed Responders have sustained an injury and not reported it in the last 6 months; statistically this will result in a more severe injury. An estimated 8.1 of every 100 emergency responders will suffer an injury or illness forcing them to miss work, compared to the national average of 1.3 for general labor. Employers who invest in worksite health promotion and injury prevention programs can see a return of $3-$6 for every dollar invested over a 2-5 year period. Documented savings are observed in medical costs, absenteeism, worker's comp claims, short-term disability and presenteeism (lower on-the-job efficiency due to employee health problems.)
Instructing all first responders on stretching, self massage, basic spine, and core stabilization techniques will begin the process of implementing an injury prevention initiative into your agency. Focusing on simple and effective wellness strategies will produce a healthier and leaner employee with better morale, fewer health problems and increased productivity. Injury prevention should be for retention of employees, once they've devoted time to the profession, we don't want them to leave because they became injured.
Consulting Services and Program Design...the Fit Responder Program.
To sucesfully design
and run an injury prevention, wellness and fitness program for public safety
employees there is a need for considerable understanding of the organizational
structure within departments and the underlying psychology of public safety employees. The first phase of the
Fit Responder program, the Train the Trainer class, adresses just that need. By
teaching existing staff how to perform an injury prevention assessment and
giving them the tools and understanding to teach and reinforce injury
prevention techniques the program will run smoothly and continuously from new
to incumbent employees. Utilizing
training staff, supervisors and field training officers we are able to
reinforce the basic techniques taught thus achieving real-time biomoechanical
behavior modification.
The second phase of the
Fit Responder program is teaching the field providers how to integrate wellness
into their shift/lives and how to employ spine stiffening techniques to reduce
injury. There are 3 keys to injury
prevention and without giving the body these 3 key components the employee is
still suceptable to injury. The three
core components are all taught in the Train the trainer class allowing
them to be reinforced daily utilizing existing departmental structure.
1) Stabilize: Possess the ability to
stiffen the spine rapidly by bracing the abdominal wall in any position or
scenario.
2) Mobilize: In
order to stabilize the body must be able to move normally and to move normally joints and muscles must be free of adhesion’s
and trigger points which form from poor repetitive posture, sports,
tightness/weakness and trauma.
3) Flexibility:
Almost the same as mobilization but focusing on muculoskeletal movement
through a full range of motion.
Ask about our additional Programs
- Uniform Fitness:
Simple and effective strategies to stay in shape, feel better and
decrease the risk of injury. (Lecture/Classroom)