Wednesday, December 27, 2000
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Wednesday, December 27, 2000 |
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Firefighters establishing wellness center If asked what the number one killer of firefighters was, very few would choose heart attacks as the answer. However, heart disease is the top reason for deaths among firefighters. When a group of Peachtree City firefighters became aware of the high incidence of heart problems among their fellow emergency workers throughout the country, they decided to do something to help locally. Understanding that most heart attacks were stress-related due to their line of work, and that many were preventable, they opted to try and set up a wellness center for local fire and emergency personnel. Firefighter Jeremy Carlisle formed a committee to pursue options and one year later, the committee is proud to have a home and some equipment for a new Wellness Center. It will be located at Station # 81 on Paschall Road in Peachtree City. Volunteer firefighters have raised a portion of the funds needed to furnish the exercise room and Peachtree City is providing a matching grant for a portion. To kick-start their project, Gold's Gym donated a variety of equipment including a prone leg curl, leg extension and abdominal crunch machine. The need for equipment was suggested by a group of firefighters who are regular members at Gold's Gym. They were aware that Gold's Gym regularly donated equipment to local high schools, so they put in a request to be considered. With the equipment donated by Gold's Gym, the money raised from their various fund-raisers and the matching monies donated by Peachtree City, the Wellness Center is well underway. However, there is still a need for more equipment; specifically, they are looking for treadmills, a stairmaster and dumbbells. Anyone interested in contributing to the project can contact Jeremy Carlisle at 770-631-2526. |