FOND DU LAC, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) – Concussions are a big concern in the sports world, but they’re also a worry in the workplace.
One career that poses a serious risk is firefighting.
Fond du Lac Fire Rescue has made a new policy for employee physical exams.
Now, Captain Jim Wamser tells WLUK, every firefighter has to get baseline concussion testing.
“About 68,000 injuries to firefighters throughout the United States every year and about 13% of those are head injuries,”
Wamser says firefighters often have to pull down parts of burning buildings to get to the flames. That’s where most of the risk for head injuries comes from.
“Hit by large chunks of plaster, lath, plumbing pipes, anything that’s in the ceiling or the attic can fall and hit us.”
The concussion testing consists of a 25 minute computer program.
“It measures, kind of, reaction times and some different memory things. It’s really easy to test.”
So now if a firefighter gets a head injury on the job Wamser says a doctor can compare it to his or her brain health beforehand.
“We’d go through the testing post-injury and could compare our pre-injury test versions to our post-injury after.”
Within the last year the department also got new helmets that are state-of-the-art and on the inside they’re fitted specifically to each firefighter.
“It’s not like the old, leather helmets where something will hit you and then fall off and they’re inspected twice a year by us and they’re rated to take an impact just like a sports helmet.”
Wamser says these steps are simple ways to try to keep firefighters safe.
As doctors learn more about concussions, he said, it’s becoming clear just how dangerous they are.
“It can have a long-term impact on a person and a long-term impact on their overall health.”
The test the firefighters take is given by Agnesian HealthCare. It’s the same test given to high school teams in the Fond du Lac area.
