County Mandates Medical Exams for Fire, Rescue Staff

Move Follows Death Of EMT in Training

Volunteer fire and rescue personnel will have to prove their physical capabilities before serving as Prince William County begins implementing mandatory medical examinations for everyone in its Fire and Rescue Department.

"This is absolutely necessary for the health and safety of the fire and rescue personnel, as well as for the safety of the public," Prince William Fire and Rescue Chief Kevin McGee said. He added that he and the volunteer chiefs "will move quickly together to carry out this major organization-wide project."

The push for mandatory annual medical examinations comes as a response to an investigation into the death of Dale City emergency medical technician Cecilia Turnbough, who fell unconscious while training to become a firefighter last year. An autopsy revealed that she died from a condition that caused her to have a fatty, enlarged heart. She did not take a physical before training.

"After the line-of-duty death, we reviewed the national standards and saw we weren't meeting those standards," McGee said. "We had to decide what was the right thing to do in order to prevent this from happening again."

In March, the Board of County Supervisors adopted an emergency ordinance that required volunteers to take the National Fire Protection Association's 1582 medical evaluation, which is the organization's comprehensive exam. The board officially and unanimously adopted a permanent version that ordinance Tuesday night.

"I've been onboard with this since the very beginning," Buckhall Volunteer Fire Department Chief Dale Trammell said. "My station has never had a physical plan in place, so this is new to us. But I think it is a wonderful thing, and it will be nice to know if there's something wrong with someone who wouldn't otherwise get a yearly physical."

McGee said he is about to award a contract to a medical provider who will visit each station during evenings to conduct the exams. People will be evaluated on their ability to complete 13 tasks, which range from extensive crawling to lifting and carrying heavy equipment.

Requiring medical exams will reduce the risk of injuries or accidents and ensure that rescue workers are capable of completing all required duties, McGee said. Although career staff members had been required to pass the test every few years, depending on their age, the 11 volunteer chiefs had controlled whether their staffs should follow the guidelines.

Each exam costs about $400; for volunteer members, half of the cost will be covered by the county Fire and Rescue Department and half by the volunteer company through Aug. 1, the date by which the county all volunteers to have passed the exam. After that, the volunteer company will be responsible for the cost.

"No one will be paying out-of-pocket," McGee said. "We had ceased a great deal of our training program after the death, so we had some carryover funds for this as a result of the slowdown at the training center."

The price of the regulation initially concerned Supervisor John T. Stirrup Jr. (R-Gainesville), who, along with supervisors John D. Jenkins (D-Neabsco) and W.S. Covington III (R-Brentsville), voted against the emergency ordinance in March. Stirrup said he could not support the initial motion because the volunteer chiefs were not all onboard then.

"I was talking with the chiefs in my district, and they were very concerned not about the physicals but about the ability to pay for them, particularly in a short time frame," he said. "But all the issues have been addressed, and they seem satisfied with the cost-sharing [formula] Chief McGee proposed."

Since the emergency ordinance was adopted, 72 volunteers have taken the test. McGee said that of the roughly 1,000 volunteers, only about 700 will need to take the evaluation. Some, he said, don't respond to calls, and others have already completed it as part of their full-time jobs in other jurisdictions.

McGee said that if volunteers don't pass the test, they can seek further medical attention to see whether their condition can be corrected or stabilized. Otherwise, they will not be able to join the staff.

Although the volunteer fire companies initially pushed back, no one appeared at Tuesday's public hearing to speak against the medical evaluations. Volunteer officials initially questioned whether the county's fire and rescue association had the authority to require physicals for volunteers. McGee, however, said he worked with the volunteers to create an explicit ordinance that clears up any of their misgivings.

"So far we have had no resistance, just support," McGee said. "It is clear to me that most, if not all, the volunteer companies . . . are focused on getting this up and running."