Publications
Academic publications
Climbing the Ranks: A Study of Firefighter Health Disparities
The fire service command structure encompasses recruit, incumbent firefighter, and officer positions. The purpose of this study was to quantify the effect of rank (recruits, incumbent firefighters, and officers) on health and physical ability characteristics within the fire service. Retrospective data from thirty-seven recruits; eighty-two incumbent firefighters; and forty-one officers from a single department were used. Participants completed body composition tests, an air consumption test, and cardiopulmonary exercise testing.
Characteristics of slow and fast performers on a firefighter air consumption test
An air consumption test (ACT) is a physical ability test used in the fire service. The purpose of this study was to compare demographics and physiological differences between slow versus fast performers on an ACT. 160 career firefighters had air consumption, total task time, body mass index, peak heart rate , body fat percentage, and oxygen consumption (VO2peak) measured. K-means clustering was used to dichotomize between slow and fast groups during an ACT. Independent samples t-tests and Cohen's d measures of effect size were used to examine differences between groups.
Directing attention externally produces consistent vertical jump assessment results
Recent research has demonstrated that consistent external attentional focus instructions produce more reliable jumping measurements compared to non-consistent focus of attention instructions. While previous research has examined the effects of different external attentional focus instructions, less is known about different external focus of attention instruction effects during a vertical jump. Given that previous work has demonstrated that consistent external focus of attention instructions produced reliable jumping estimations, we hypothesized that using multiple methods to direct attention externally would produce consistent vertical jump results.
Industry PUBLICATIONS
National Fire Service Health & Wellness Strategy Meeting - First Responder Center of Excellence
The First Responder Center for Excellence for Reducing Occupational Illnesses, Injuries, and Deaths (FRCE) is a subsidiary affiliate of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation (NFFF). This document outlines the current findings of health in the fire service and outlines the strategic plan is to translate these into applied programs that can be delivered across a wide range of settings in user-friendly, accessible, and affordable formats.