May 2025 - Get Fit For Duty Research Newsletter
- Get Fit For Duty
- May 28
- 8 min read
Interested in Fire Service related research? We have a new monthly research newsletter
Welcome
Hello & Welcome to our inaugural newsletter!
The aim of this newsletter is to provide a monthly update on recent research focused on the health and wellbeing of firefighters. Each month will aim to have a guest researcher, who will give a insight into their current research and the positive impact their work will make to firefighters.
If you are currently undertaking research within the fire service sector, we would love to hear about your project, please email us at info@getfitforduty.co.uk.
If you would like to receive the Get Fit For Duty Newsletter automatically each month, then you can subscribe for free by clicking here
Included in the MAY newsletter,
Scroll down to read this the MAY edition of our newsletter.
Introduction
Hello, firstly thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and if you have also subscribed, then a double thank you!
I have wanted to create this newsletter for a while and I am pleased that the first newsletter has been published. Throughout my PhD research, I was lucky enough to meet some amazing people conducting research within the fire service sector and I wanted to create a platform where information about these projects could be shared.
There are two main aims that I would like to achieve with this newsletter:
To raise awareness of current and recently completed research projects focused on improving firefighter health and wellbeing.
To build a community of like minded individuals and create a space for further discussion to aid with ongoing projects (including participation in studies) and develop ideas for future research.
I’m looking forward to seeing how this community can develop and I hope that you find the information within this newsletter (plus the upcoming issues) insightful and beneficial.
To help build this community, I need your help. If you know anyone who would be interested in this newsletter, please share it on your social channels and invite them to join the LinkedIn Get Fit For Duty Research Group.
Stay healthy,
Dr Liam Noll
Sport & Exercise Science, PhD
May Research Focus - Dr Liam Noll, PhD - Assessing firefighter readiness to return to operational duties following MSK injury.
For the first issue of the Get Fit For Duty Research Newsletter, I thought it would a prime opportunity to reintroduce myself and my recent PhD research project.
Please tell us a bit more about yourself & your background
I have been working as a fitness advisor for Essex County Fire & Rescue Service (ECFRS) since 2013. I originally started this role on an internship, after graduating from university with a BSc degree in Sport & Exercise Science.
Throughout my time at ECFRS, I have conducted thousands of fitness assessments and provided personalised strength & conditioning plans, training sessions and presentations on various health & wellbeing topics to help support firefighters achieve the required national fitness standards.
Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to meet fitness advisors from fire services across the United Kingdom with many of them working towards the same goal of providing increasing firefighter health and wellbeing through their operational careers. In 2018 I joined the FireFit steering group, a research group focused on supporting the health and wellbeing of operational firefighters.
Please tell us about your research topic & what makes your passionate about this area of study
After discovering that there was no national guidance for assessing firefighters physical capacity on their return to operational duties following injury, I set out on a PhD research journey, with the aim of developing a novel return to work screening tool for firefighters.
I am passionate about this research project because I believe that the development of a return to work screening tool to assess the physical readiness of a firefighter to return to operational duties could help individuals return to work in a safer way and reduce reinjury risk in the future.
What were the findings/results from your research?
One of my studies involved interviewing firefighters who had previously returned to operational duties following injury to gain an understanding of there perceived barriers and facilitators experienced during their return to work process.
One key theme highlighted from this study was that a perceived barrier experienced by firefighters who had previously returned to work following injury was the lack of consistency in processes which sometimes lead to miscommunication between departments and delays in returning to work.
In the first steps to address this, I used a Delphi technique to seek to gain a consensus on the tasks to be included in a return to work screening tool for firefighters. Participants included operational managers, occupational health professionals and fitness professionals from fire and rescue services across the United Kingdom. A consensus was gained for the tasks to be included in a return to work screening tool, the number of the repetitions/distance to be completed and the required mass to be lifted/carried for each task.
The reliability of this return to work screening tool was assessed and the results indicated that this screening tool had good-excellent reliability. Following the outcome of this study, the Fit for Duty Screening Tool was created and has already been implemented within fire and rescue services across the United Kingdom to support firefighters returning to work following MSK injury.
How do you hope your research can help address current challenges firefighters face in terms of health & wellbeing?
I hope that the development of the Fit for Duty screening tool can help provide more consistency in return to work processes for firefighters as this assessment can be implemented within fire and rescue service return to work policies for relevant stakeholders to follow.
Additionally, by having a standard return to work screening tool, managers and individuals will be aware of the requirements and support can be provided to enable the individual to train accordingly during their rehabilitation in order to pass the requirements of the Fit for Duty screening tool.
Where can our readers learn more about your research project?
I am proud that all the studies from my PhD were published in peer-reviewed journals.
You can access the studies for free by click on the links below:
What are the future directions for your research?
Whilst my PhD research primarily focused on firefighters returning to operational duties following MSK injury, I am conscious that there can be other reasons why an individual has been absent from the workplace.
One reason could be female firefighters seeking to return to operational duties following maternity leave. Whilst it would be advisable to use the Fit for Duty screening tool to assess physical readiness to return to operational duties following maternity leave, the research conducted during my PhD did not specially address any specialised needs female firefighters might need to support a successful return to work.
In the United Kingdom, over the last ten year the number of female firefighters has doubled. A hypothesis could be that fire services will experience a larger number of cases where female firefighters will want to return to operational duties following maternity. I believe that it is highly important that female firefighters are supported back into the workplace postpartum, ensuring that they can continue with their operational career.
In the first steps to address this, I aim to conduct a study to seek to gain an understanding of experiences from female firefighters including the barriers and facilitators faced whilst working during pregnancy and their return to work process.
Research article of the month - Exploring Canadian Career Firefighters’ Understanding of the Return-to-Work Process After Musculoskeletal Injuries
Introduction: The interest in understanding the return to work process for firefighters following MSK injuries grows in Canada. A recent study from Killip et al investigated Canadian firefighters understanding in the return to work processes for their fire service and what they believed to be facilitators and barriers to returning to work.
Methodology: The study involved interviewing 38 participants (33 male, 5 female), including different ranks and from both rural and city departments. A semi-structured interview approach was used and thematic coding was used for the analysis of the findings.
Key Findings:
Three key themes were identified from the findings:
1. Variation in RTW knowledge
- 31 of 38 firefighters had some awareness of the RTW process.
- However, firefighters were less aware of stakeholder involvement in the process and interventions that were used to promote return-to-work
2. Access to treatment
- Some firefighters claimed that health professionals they worked with didn’t understand the full physical requirements of a firefighter. Firefighters claimed that the health professionals ‘just’ asked if they felt okay before discharging them without any physical assessment.
- Some firefighters highlighted that access to treatment can be limited for firefighters in rural areas.
3. Pressures to RTW too soon
- A cookie cutter approach in return to work processes were sometimes seen as not suitable for firefighters.
- Firefighters stated that there was a stigma around being off work for an injury, should be able to work through it. This increased perceived pressure to return to work sooner, even if they didnt feel 100% ready.
- Firefighters stated that they should only return to work when they were ready, not to injury themselves further.
Implications:
Suggestions moving forward include having RTW procedures clearly outlined. Fire departments should implement targeted treatments and provide better benefits plans for their operational staff. There should be more options for modified work allowing firefighters to to make choices of the work they could carry out during recovery. A final suggestion was that firefighters must be fully recovered and physical able to perform firefighting tasks before returning to operational duties.
Events - Fitness Events / Conferences
Conferences
If you are planning any fire related events and would like to promote them to like-minded researchers, drop us an email and we can include it in our next newsletter.
The Emergency Services Show - 17th-18th September. NEC Birmingham. Registration is FREE. Click here to book your place.
Fitness Events
If you are taking part in any upcoming fitness events and are raising money for the firefighters charity, please let us know by emailing info@getfitforduty.co.uk.
Cycle Week June 2025
As we approach June, I wanted to highlight the National Bike Week which will be held between 9th-15th June 2025. This campaign is aimed at everyone, showcasing how cycling can fit into everyday life.
Cycling UK are promoting a “Big Bike Brunch 2025’. If you would like to host a Big Bike Brunch for your organisation then click here to find out more details.
Snowdon sea to summit
On 4th-5th July you can join the Snowdon sea to summit challenge. This is a fantasic opportunity to see some amazing views and raise some money for the firefighters charity. If you are interested in taking part in this challenge then click here for more details.
Call for participants
Are you looking for participants for your upcoming fire related research project? If you are, send me an email about your project and I would be happy to feature it in an upcoming newsletter to try and help increase participation for your research project.
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