Zanesville Firefighters Get Warm-up Advice from Orthopedic Specialist

Zanesville firefighters receive some helpful tips for staying in good health ahead of the cold winter months.

The city’s bravest attended a discussion today hosted by Dr. Ian Dempsey, Sports Medicine & Shoulder Specialist at Orthopedic Associates of Zanesville.

“The thing that I think is not talked about enough is appropriate prevention — that is to kind of try to avoid these injuries and also help with long-term efforts to be effective in their job and just in society. I think generally speaking — if you look at, again, these guys are very fit and a lot of the stuff they can do before they work out is exactly what you’re saying, stretching, I think if you look specifically at the shoulder, basic rotator cuff strengthening and scapular stabilizers,” Dempsey says.

Fire Chief Jeff Bell says the session helps to provide good advice.

“We’re working in cold conditions, we’re working in adverse conditions, we’re working with extra weight and gear on just even stepping off the truck with the air pack on. So, talking to an orthopedist who can kind of give us some insight on stretches that we can do to kind of keep us limber, some of the things like that is always kind of nice to use their experience,” Bell says.

The challenge firefighters face is having time to do any warm-up exercises before being asked to respond to an emergency at a moment’s notice.