Snap Crackle Pop
This macronutrient should be consumed at 0.5 grams per pound of body weight each day to prevent muscle loss
What is Protein
If you halve your weight in pounds, this is roughly how many grams of protein older adults should consume each day to preserve muscle mass, strength, metabolic resilience and functional longevity — which become harder to maintain with age.
What is drinking alcohol OR using cell phones or hands-free devices. (increases collision risk about 4x)
This condition, commonly experienced by first responders after repeated exposure to traumatic events, can include flashbacks, nightmares, and severe anxiety even during retirement.
What is Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
EMDR and Brainspotting are examples of trauma-based therapies that can be helpful for managing symptoms of PTSD
Even though this can feel relaxing, this common substance is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen and is linked to cancers of the mouth, throat, liver, colon, and breast.
What is alcohol?
Humans need this range of hours of sleep for optimal health benefits.
What is 7-9 hours?
reminder that because we are awake for part of the time we spend in bed, we actually need to be in bed for more than 7 hours each night to get at least 7 hours of sleep. The percent time spent in bed sleeping while trying to sleep is called “sleep efficiency” (total sleep time compared to total time in bed). Ideal sleep efficiency is 85% or higher. For example, for someone with 85% sleep efficiency, they would need to be in bed for 8 hours and 12 minutes to get 7 hours of sleep.
Inadequate sleep increases risk for many health problems including impaired cognitive function, reduced immune function, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. Humans are currently sleeping about one hour per night less than they did in the 1950s.
Deficiency of this vitamin increases musculoskeletal pain, fracture risk, muscle weakness and muscle loss.
What is Vitamin D?
Not enough exposure to sunlight, Darker skin pigment, Malnutrition or gut absorption problems, Kidney or liver disease, Certain medications
Osteoporosis & hip and spine fractures, Muscle weakness & falls, Chronic pain, Impaired immunity, Fatigue & low energy, Mood changes, Possible cardiometabolic effects – Linked to hypertension, insulin resistance
Exercise, social connection, lifelong learning, hearing correction, and vaccines all help reduce risk for this disease—name it.
What is Alzheimer’s disease?
Bonus: which one do you think has the biggest impact? (Answer: hearing loss is one of the strongest modifiable risk factors.)
This condition involves ongoing feelings of sadness, loss of interest, and low energy, and can affect fire fighters during or after their careers.
What is depression?
According to various studies, 28-43% of FF/EMS populations have depression
Research shows that consistency with an exercise routine over 12+ weeks can be as or more effective than medication in managing depression
This substance may not be a carcinogen in tobacco smoke, but it does hook the brain and can raise heart rate and blood pressure.
What is nicotine?
This type of therapy is the most effective treatment for chronic insomnia.
What is Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Insomnia?
CBT for insomnia is a structured, evidence-based approach to helping treat chronic insomnia. The approach addresses underlying thoughts, behaviors, and habits that can affect sleep. This can be done in person with a trained therapist (typically over the course of 6-8 sessions) or online through a variety of websites or Apps (e.g. moonahealth, cbtforinsomnia, CBT-i Coach app). Outcomes are more effective than with sleep medications.
Muscle strength declines by 3% per year after this age
50 years old
strength is lost 2-5 times faster than muscle mass (~3% per year decrease in strength and ~1% decrease per year in muscle mass). >15 hours a week of even leisurely activity can reduce rate of muscle loss by ~1/3rd.
For firefighters, the biggest threats to life aren’t fires—they’re heart disease, cancer, and this cause of death.
What is suicide?
Heart disease (by far #1 for on-duty deaths). ~45–63% of line-of-duty deaths are cardiac-related. Cardiac events are the most immediate and dominant threat
Cancer (likely #1 for overall lifetime mortality). Firefighters have ~14% higher cancer mortality vs general population. Some reports suggest cancer accounts for a majority of career-related deaths (often cited ~60–70% in firefighter advocacy data). Cancer is the slow, cumulative risk—often becoming the leading cause of death after retirement.
Suicide (lower overall mortality, but critical risk). Risk appears higher with longer service and cumulative stress exposure
The act of recognizing and acknowledging the good things that happen
What is gratitude?
Journaling, taking a photo, writing a card, end-of-day reflections are all examples of gratitude practices, which can improve subjective quality of life, sense of happiness, reduce stress, improve sleep, and reduce inflammation.
This substance is increasingly used for chronic pain and sleep, and unlike opioids it doesn’t suppress breathing—but it can impair short-term memory and coordination, increasing fall risk and, uniquely, may cause cyclic vomiting in heavy users
What is marijuana/THC?
This range of minutes is ideal for a power nap.
What is 10 - 30 minutes (any number in this range is acceptable)?
Short naps in the early afternoon (no later than 3pm) can be restorative and can improve alertness without leading to grogginess. NASA did a study that concluded that 26 minutes was the ideal length of a nap for optimal results. A longer nap (e.g. 90 minutes, the length of a typical sleep cycle) is ideal when sleep was significantly disrupted the previous night. An hour long nap, however, often leads to grogginess as people are typically in deep sleep after one hour of sleep.
Maintaining strength on this specific strength test is associated with a 30-40% reduced mortality risk
What is grip strength?
this test has been shown to be a great marker of global physiologic health - it is a marker of total muscle mass, biologic aging, inflammation & chronic disease burden, nutritional status, neurologic integrity, and cardiometabolic fitness
This cancer is surprisingly not associated with a higher incidence rate in firefighters
What is lung cancer?
While mesothelioma is increased due to asbestos exposure, lung cancer is not.
The quality of being concerned with the human spirit or soul as opposed to material or physical things.
What is spirituality?
Attendance at religious services, and contemplative practices such as yoga and meditation, can significantly improve conditions such as anxiety, depression, cardiovascular disease
Regular use of this substance, often used for pain control, can change the nervous system so that normal aches feel amplified instead of relieved.
What are opioids (morphine, hydrocodone/Vicodin, oxycodone/Percocet, etc)?
opioid-induced hyeralgesia
This is the number one recommendation by sleep experts to help optimize sleep.
What is having a consistent bedtime and wake up time (often referred to as “sleep regularity”)?
A 2025 systematic review of 59 studies found that sleep regularity is independently associated with major health outcomes, with the least regular sleepers showing 20-88% higher all-cause mortality compared to those with consistent sleep-wake schedules, independent of sleep duration and quality. This practice also helps to maintain the body’s circadian rhythms.
Inability to stand on one leg for this many seconds is associated with an 80% increased risk of all-cause mortality for those aged 51 and older.
What is 10 seconds?
the test is a quick functional biomarker of aging and system integrity and those who cannot perform it tend to have higher underlying disease burden and lower physiologic reserve.
These tiny particles—found in bottled water, food packaging, and even the air—can enter your body through ingestion and inhalation and have been linked to inflammation and disease in multiple organ systems.
What are microplastics?
-reproductive dysfunction (decreased sperm quality, reduced follicular development, hormonal changes) -gastrointestinal disorders (immunosuppression, intestinal damage, chronic inflammation) -respiratory disease (oxidative stress, pulmonary dysfunction, lung injury) -heart disease (microplastics are found in artery plaques and clots).
This social health risk, which can worsen after retirement, is associated with an increased risk for cardiovascular disease, mental health struggles, and all-cause mortality
What is social isolation?
These commonly prescribed medications can help you fall asleep faster, but studies show they may reduce restorative deep sleep and REM, impair next-day reaction time, and—unlike most other drug classes—are linked to complex behaviors like sleepwalking, sleep eating, or even driving with no memory of it
What are sedative-hypnotics (sleep aids like zolpidem/Ambien) *will also accept prescription sleep aids.
These commonly used over the counter medications to treat insomnia are unsafe for people ages 65 and over.
What are antihistamines (other acceptable answers: benadryl, diphenhydramine, Unisom, doxylamine)?
although these medications are sold over the counter and are marketed as sleep aids, they are actually unsafe for prolonged use in people ages 65 and over. Risks of use include confusion and cognitive impairment, dry mouth, constipation, urinary retention, daytime drowsiness, and risk of falls. They are also not very effective at improving sleep.