By John Streit
The Virginian-Pilot
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. — When emergencies strike, Virginia Beach Rescue Squad volunteers are often the first responders on the scene when lives are at stake.
It’s a demanding service that requires much physical wherewithal, and for the past three months squad members have been shedding pounds.
It’s just a matter of living by example, said Jenni McFarland, executive director of the Virginia Beach Association of Rescue Squad Volunteers.
That’s the philosophy behind the association’s Live by Example 12-Week Challenge, an initiative spearheaded by McFarland to strengthen rescue squad volunteers’ almost-necessary commitment to a healthy lifestyle to better serve the well-being of their city’s citizens.
“We wanted to bond all of the EMS providers in Virginia Beach together for the purpose of retention, and in order to have that retention value, we decided to develop programs to benefit volunteers and their families,” said McFarland, a Dam Neck area resident. “If we’re going to ask people to focus on their health-care needs, we need to be healthy in order to do that.”
Inspired by “The Biggest Loser,” the challenge used a similar format to the NBC reality show, complete with weekly workouts, monthly weigh-ins and prizes to encourage weight loss.
The contest — which was open to city rescue squad volunteers, their families or friends at no cost — culminated May 17 with a final workout challenge and weigh-in at Mount Trashmore Park.
McFarland said the initiative will continue to run year-round. Mark Crews, a certified personal trainer at STAC Fitness and a physician’s assistant at Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital, provides the personal training.
“I work in the emergency department, and I see and talk to rescue people every day,” Crews said, “so it became an important issue to me that they obtain their maximum fitness so we can all better serve the community.”
Along with weekly EMS “boot camps” at Town Center Fitness, Crews uses a personal training Web site tool to directly serve the more than 100 program participants. He guided the volunteers and their friends and family through a cycle of workouts that rotated through Town Center Fitness’ various exercise machines.
The association also aided in the National Letter Carriers Association’s Stamp Out Hunger national food drive by moving thousands of pounds of donated food at the Foodbank of Southeastern Virginia — which doubled as a workout.
The group registered for “The Biggest Loser” Pound-for-Pound Challenge, in which General Mills donates 10 cents to the nonprofit Feeding America for each pound lost.
The fitness program sparked newfound commitment to a healthy lifestyle for Ray Ford Sr., a 67-year-old administrative aid at Rescue Squad 14 who is also the program’s oldest participant.
“I have arthritis in the knees and a bad shoulder, so if I don’t do this, it really hurts,” said Ford, who lives in Lake Placid. “This is part of my regular lifestyle now, and I’m enjoying it . No one believes that I’m 67.”
Copyright 2009 Landmark Communications, Inc.
All Rights Reserved