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Wellness regimen
helps firefighters
stay in shape
A new exercise plan aims to
By Rod Ohira
reduce their stress and risk
of heart attacks
Star-BulletinBeing a firefighter and father of four young children, including 19-month-old triplets, gives Nathan Kapule a chance to practice stress relief to the max.
At age 43, he's a model of good health.
"If you're physically fit, you're more able to adapt to stress," said Kapule, a fitness and nutrition expert with multiple marathon, triathlon, Ironman and Tinman credits.
His challenge now is to convince his peers that physical fitness will reduce the risk of heart attacks due to stress, the leading cause of line-of-duty deaths for firefighters in the United States.
With 15 years of firefighting experience and a master's degree in exercise science from the University of Hawaii, Kapule was Chief Attilio Leonardi's first choice to coordinate the Honolulu Fire Department's new physical-fitness and wellness program for its 1,129 firefighters.
Beginning July 15, one hour of each work day for on-duty personnel will be devoted to the physical-fitness program. Improving firefighters' fitness now is Leonardi's preemptive move to prepare the department for new national performance standards in two years.
The fitness program calls for 30 minutes of walking or running, 20 minutes of light weight training, five minutes of sit-ups and five minutes of stretching.
"There's no failure here," said Kapule, who is assigned to the Kaimuki Station's ladder company. "It's a simple fitness program that everyone can do and it has nothing to do with disqualifying anyone medically.
"The baseline is to take a look at your performance each time so you can have a picture of your physical performance and identify strengths and weaknesses."
Getting all the firefighters to buy into the program will not be easy. "We're approaching this sensitively so we don't eliminate anyone," he said.
Firefighters should feel the benefits both personally and professionally. "Physical fitness creates focus and a better attitude and it calms you down, allowing you to better handle stress," Kapule said.
Francis Kennedy Jr., business manager of the Hawaii Fire Fighters Association, says the program is nonpunitive and not looking for people out of shape.
"It has the union's support," Kennedy said. "The intent in the beginning stages is to reach a point where everybody is doing something."
But one veteran firefighter, who requested anonymity, believes the program is targeting old-timers.
"I'm not the same person physically that I was over 20 years ago," he said. "I'm heavier and my knees are bad so I don't run as well, but knowledge helps me to survive.
"I think this really handicaps the older guys."
Richard Midgett, a 43-year-old Waialua firefighter and Ironman competitor, is encouraged by what the program hopes to accomplish.
"We work a buddy system so if something happens to me, I'd like to know that my buddy is in good enough shape to save himself and me," Midgett said. "I try to stay fit so I can to do the same thing for my buddy."
Kapule, a University of Hawaii and Moanalua High graduate, was previously involved with implementing the department's "pulmonary function stress test" when it was a requirement in the mid-90s.
"It was physically stressful," he said about the test, which monitored the heart rate of firefighters after they climbed 4 floors in full equipment, hoisted equipment, simulated forced entries, and carried a hose 200 feet and a 165-pound dummy 100 feet.
"You were timed and had to complete it."
The test was scrapped after two years because physicians were concerned the exercise itself might cause a heart attack, said Kapule.The department went back to a voluntary program where the heart functions of firefighters were measured periodically.
The new program is nothing like the stress test, Kapule said.
"The driving force is to eliminate heart deaths and we know that physical fitness and wellness will decrease the risk," Kapule said. "The plan for the day will be up to each company commander."
Fire Department spokesman Capt. Richard Soo said 47-year-old Battalion Chief Hank Sur was the most recent Honolulu firefighter to die of a heart attack in the line of duty. Sur died in 1984.
Fifty-two-year-old Fire Rescue Capt. Kala Kukea was off duty when he suffered a fatal heart attack in 1996 while kayaking near Magic Island.
The majority of Honolulu firefighters are in good shape, said Leonardi.
"If I were to grade our guys, I'd give them a B," the chief said. "We have fit personnel but we have different degrees of fitness. What we want to do is have everyone work toward moving up one grade from where they are now."
Kapule and his wife, the former Cathy Fortier of Seattle, both work and the eldest of their four children is 3 years old. Following a 24-hour work shift, Kapule said he's lucky to get five hours of sleep on an off day.
"I've tested this on myself," he said, referring to keeping fit to relieve stress.
"My level of fitness has been developed over a 15-year career at the Fire Department," added Kapule, a Gulf War veteran. "I started with weight training and got into running and swimming. It provides me with a lot of energy."
International Association of Fire Fighters 1998 Death and Injury Survey facts: OCCUPATIONAL CAUSES
OF DEATH, INJURY
45 professional firefighters were killed in the line of duty; 39 died as a result of occupational diseases directly related to fire fighting.
