Contributed by Paul J. Anderson, M.D.

There is no way around it, firefighting is a stressful job. Physically, you must be able to handle the stress of the station alarm or an emergency call, the truck sirens blaring, gearing up and working hard until the fire is out, keeping at it until overhaul is done, and staying until your gear is clean and back in your locker. Emotionally, you must handle distraught victims, exposure to horrible life situations and trauma, the unpredictable attitudes of your teammates, and anything else that comes at you on a call. On top of all that, if you are like most firefighters in Minnesota – part-time or volunteer – this might not even be your day job, and you likely have a family to take care of as well.

All of these things considered, firefighting exposes us to high levels of stress. With prolonged exposure to these elevated stress levels, firefighters can feel a negative ripple effect through various aspects of life that may eventually hinder a person’s ability to function.

The most important thing to remember about your body is that it cannot tell the difference between various kinds of stress. “Stress is stress” to your body. It’s also good to remember that too much stress can negatively impact almost all of the other lifestyle habits you might be trying to build or maintain. With too much stress, we eat poorly, sleep poorly, have low energy for working out, our relationships suffer and we may turn to alcohol or other substances a little too often to “take the edge off.”

But there are ways to counter the “crunch” of too much stress in your life. Here are a few thoughts to help you step out in another direction:

1. Prioritize: Being stressed out happens sometimes in everyone’s life, but often it happens because our priorities have gotten out of order. Think about what capacities are most important to you and what skills and resources are essential to helping you be your best for yourself and the people around you. Prioritize the time and activities that support those resources. Take control of your schedule. Decide to let some things go.
2. Downsize: So much stress comes from trying to do too much in too little time. Maybe there are some parts of your life you could simplify or let go of altogether to get back on track. Think about your commitments, your obligations and the extra activities that are filling your time. Maybe you can back off just a little bit and buy yourself some time to recharge.
3. Capitalize: Capitalizing means you take what you have and reinvest it in key resources that make you even more successful. Take your new priorities, and some of the time you gained from downsizing, and re-invest in your key relationships, the physical and mental health you have through physical activity and great nutrition, good friendships, spending time in nature and participating in activities or causes that bring you joy.

Managing stress is a key pillar of a healthy lifestyle that will improve your ability to be present to your work, your family, and yourself. You can read more about other healthy lifestyle pillars, such as physical fitness, here.

Once again on Sunday, September 24, we gathered on the grounds of the Minnesota State Capitol for the annual Minnesota Fallen Firefighter Memorial Service.

This year, the importance of MnFIRE’s mission hit especially hard. The service honored two beloved members of the state’s fire service, both of whom died in the line of duty in the past year as a result of cardiac events. Hopkins Assistant Fire Chief James “Jimmy” Scanlon died Nov. 4, 2022, and St. Paul Fire Captain Chris Parsons died June 15, 2023. Chris was a founding board member of MnFIRE and a fervent champion for firefighter well-being, which will forever be part of his legacy.

During the ceremony, inscribed columns in their honor were added to the Minnesota Fallen Firefighter Memorial, and their families received flags that have been flown over the state capitol – and the thanks of a grateful state. Firefighters from across Minnesota joined Gov. Tim Walz and other dignitaries to honor all of Minnesota’s 244 fallen firefighters, including a special remembrance of fallen firefighters from Mapleton and St. Louis Park.

These tragic cardiac incidents are a solemn reminder about the vital work we’re doing to protect the heart health of each and every firefighter. With deep gratitude, we recognize Chris and Jimmy’s dedicated service, and our thoughts and prayers are with their family, friends and communities.

The memorial service is held each year on the last Sunday in September, which has been designated as the state’s official day to honor Minnesota’s fallen firefighters. Learn more about the fallen firefighters who were honored from FOX 9’s coverage of the ceremony.

The Minnesota Fire Service Foundation coordinates the effort to recognize the state’s firefighters who died in the line of duty and provides support and resources to fire departments, firefighters, and their families throughout Minnesota. Financial contributions to fund educational scholarships for children of active, retired, or deceased firefighters, and for spouses of deceased firefighters and support for firefighters and their families in times of need can be sent to:

Minnesota Fire Service Foundation c/o Security Bank & Trust Co.
591 Park Avenue, PO Box 157
Hamburg, MN 55339

Online contributions can be made at MNFireServiceFoundation.org. All contributions are tax deductible.

Contributed by Paul J. Anderson, M.D.

As a firefighter, food may be one of the last things on your mind. You may work one or two other jobs while trying to hold down a busy family life, and you’re committed to showing up for a fire call, ready to get to work. With this number of responsibilities, you eat when you can. But putting food last on your list will eventually leave you unprepared for an emergency because you are too tired or too unhealthy to rise to the challenge. While being unprepared could cause you injury, it could also keep you, your fellow firefighters, your family or the public from getting help when they need it.

We get it. On top of juggling all of those things, nutritional advice is overwhelming and confusing for most of us. So, here is a great saying from Michael Pollan to get you started: “Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.”

Eat real food

Eating real food means eating items that naturally occur in the world as things you can eat. Think about an apple, a carrot, black beans, nuts or fish. Processed foods, on the other hand, are edible substances that come out of machines or go through heavy processing like puffed snacks, soft drinks, protein drinks or candy bars. Real food is better fuel because it has more nutrients and fewer calories. Plus, it contains the full variety of nutrients our bodies need to do work and stay healthy.

Not too much

Eating too much of anything provides excess energy (calories) which the body stores as fat. Only about 10 to 20% of your weight should come from fat. The rest (80 to 90%) should be muscle, bone, blood, organs and water. But what is too much?

The average person needs somewhere around 2,000 calories per day just to support basic body functions like thinking, moving around, digestion and breathing. Divide this by three meals per day and you are talking about 675 calories per meal (less if you snack), which is not a lot of food. So, besides learning to eat more real food and less processed foods, the next action you can take is to pay attention to how many calories you eat in a day. There are a number of apps you can use for free (such as myfitnesspal.com) that help you easily track your food intake if you want to learn how many calories you eat.

Mostly plants

No, you don’t have to be a vegetarian or a vegan. But you do need to understand that meat is best kept as a “once in a while” part of your diet, instead of a daily dietary staple. All types of meat contain everything an animal ate and was exposed to during its lifetime, not all of which is good.  In addition, certain components of meat, especially red meat, can create inflammation in your body and that can speed up the development of disease in your blood vessels and heart.

Lifestyle changes such as regular exercise and quality nutrition can improve job performance and help your body reach its full potential. Nutrition is a key pillar of a healthy lifestyle that will improve your ability to be present for your colleagues, your family and yourself. You can read more about other healthy lifestyle pillars, such as physical fitness, on the MnFIRE blog.

Learn how to create and maintain good physical fitness and healthy eating habits to support your firefighter training, work demands and long-term health by signing your department up for the new Firefighter Fitness & Nutrition training from MnFIRE. These trainings are available whenever it’s convenient for your crew, and it’s completely free for all fire departments in Minnesota. Sign up today!

It was 22 years ago when Ellen Kling decided to join the fire department in Ceylon. Her husband Larry had been active at the department since high school, and she was drawn to the comradery she had seen in the fire service.

“You don’t have to like each other, but yet when you get to a fire, you have each other’s backs,” said Ellen.

When Ellen isn’t volunteering as a training officer and EMT, she manages an excavating and scrap iron business with her husband.

With retirement on the horizon, Ellen was startled to find out she had a spot on her lung. After reviewing her shoulder X-ray results in her online portal back in December 2022, Ellen messaged her provider for further review. After several scans and tests, she found out it was cancerous.

Most lung cancers do not cause any symptoms until they have spread, so Ellen was lucky to catch it early. Ellen’s experience isn’t uncommon – after all, firefighters have a 9% higher risk of being diagnosed with cancer and a 14% higher risk of dying from cancer than the general U.S. population, according to research by the CDC and National Institute for Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH). But her story is a perfect reminder of the importance of advocating for yourself as a patient.

In March 2023, Ellen underwent surgery at Mayo Clinic in Rochester to remove the cancerous lung nodules. Fortunately, she is now cancer free and is following up with testing and appointments every six months.

As a training officer for Ceylon Fire, Ellen was already aware of MnFIRE and the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program (HHAP) resources when she was diagnosed with lung cancer. She’s the one who coordinated the MnFIRE trainings for her department and even learned about the increased cancer risks facing firefighters. But after her diagnosis, her thoughts weren’t on any programs MnFIRE had. She wasn’t thinking about anything but the next appointment – as is typical when facing a serious illness.

“Until you have cancer or any disease, you don’t really understand the mentality and the things that go through your head – the tunnel vision that you get,” said Ellen.

Luckily, Ellen’s friend and Dunnell Fire Chief, Al Helmers, reached out to remind Ellen about the free Critical Illness benefit available to her through Hometown Heroes.

“Having that support system, that’s one of the things about the fire service that I like,” said Ellen. “There’s always that firefighter next to you to say, ‘hey, have you checked on this or are you doing ok?’”

“To be honest, I wasn’t worried about the financial. I was thinking straightforward. Am I going to die? How bad is this? Having someone there to say, ‘hey, you know there is a program that is going to take some financial burden off and you’re going to need that’ – that’s great.”

Ellen filed her claim but was skeptical about getting the full $20,000 benefit advertised by MnFIRE. That thought was quickly dashed, and she was excited to discover the critical illness policy provider, Securian Financial, sent a check for the entire amount.

It’s certainly not cheap to have cancer. Ellen was off work for six weeks – a significant amount of time especially when you own your own business. Her treatment also required several stays in Rochester, and she has had to make several trips to Mankato and Fairmont for testing and appointments. Like so many firefighters in Minnesota, Ellen lives in a rural area and sometimes it can be quite the hike to access healthcare services.

“As my husband and I are self-employed,” said Ellen, “the money I received allowed me to have some peace of mind knowing I could spend time healing after surgery and not have to stress about money or rushing back to work too soon.”

Although she’s still in recovery, Ellen’s grateful that her treatment has been effective, and she was able to receive this extra financial support through it all.

“It’s a great program,” said Ellen. “Especially because the majority of firefighters in the state of Minnesota fall under the volunteer status and don’t necessarily have access to career benefits.”

Knowledge is power

When firefighters head out on a call – they’re thinking about putting the fire out. MnFIRE has made great strides so far in creating awareness for the high incidences of heart attacks and cancer facing the fire service, but even more can be done.

“Prior to the MnFIRE training, we didn’t have a gear washer,” said Ellen. “We just kept wearing our turnouts … so the training is valuable to any firefighter.”

Ellen believes MnFIRE trainings have been powerful during her time as a firefighter – and even lifesaving in the long run. Learning about the increased health risks firefighters face and how best to protect yourself can make a huge difference, like making sure you’re putting your hood on, getting a good seal and decontaminating gear as soon as possible.

“The small things, those definitely add up,” said Ellen. “I think MnFIRE has been great in helping firefighters become healthier and make good choices.”

It’s so important to check in on each other often and spread the word about the resources available to all of us firefighters. Knowledge is power – with both cancer prevention and care.

Critical Illness Program details

As part of the Hometown Heroes Assistance Program, all Minnesota firefighters are automatically enrolled in a statewide Critical Illness insurance policy which covers diagnoses of cancer, cardiac or other critical illnesses, and provides a lump-sum cash payment up to $20,000 to assist with expenses like medical bills and travel costs to and from specialist visits. Qualified claims for diagnosed illnesses from August 1, 2021, and on are eligible. The firefighter has one year from the date of diagnosis to file the claim. For more information or to file a claim, call 888-784-6634 or visit securian.com/mnfire-insurance.