Firefighters and EMTs Need to Be More Fit

Boston researchers stress fitness for firefighter and EMT recruits - The Boston Globe

Boston researchers are sounding the alarm about the physical fitness of candidates for firefighting and emergency medical technician jobs in Massachusetts.

Roughly 77 percent of recruits were overweight or obese as measured by standard body-mass index, the researchers found, according to a study published online yesterday in the journal Obesity.

All of the normal-weight recruits passed minimum exercise tests recommended by the National Fire Protection Association, a nonprofit that sets standards for the industry. But 7 percent of the overweight and 42 percent of the obese recruits failed to meet the minimum standard, said the researchers from Boston University School of Medicine, Harvard University, and the Cambridge Health Alliance.

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