Newton-Wellesley Hospital Helping Firefighters Combat Heart Disease

NEWTON, MA — Newton-Wellesley Hospital (NWH), a member of Mass General Brigham, is partnering with local firefighters to promote heart health and help reduce their risk of cardiovascular disease.

Earlier this month, experts from NWH visited the Waltham Fire Department for a session focused on healthy eating and cooking.

“Our program focuses on the primary prevention of cardiovascular disease in our communities by addressing modifiable risk factors such as diet, exercise, and stress reduction as effective tools to minimize the risk of disease,” Jane Barr, Community Wellness Coordinator and Registered Dietitian at NWH, said in a statement.

According to the American Heart Association, cardiac arrest is the leading cause of job-related deaths for firefighters. One study found that, of the 627 on-duty firefighter deaths between 1999 and 2014, 276 resulted from cardiac arrest. Many of those deaths were found to be linked to pre-existing heart conditions and disease.

“Newton-Wellesley Hospital is committed to working with these brave public servants to ensure that they have the necessary resources and support to prevent heart disease from impacting them and their families,” Dr. George Philippides, Chief of NWH’s Division of Cardiology, said in a statement.

NWH’s Heart Health Community Initiative is composed of three educational sessions that pair classroom-based education with hands-on learning. These sessions include: “Know Your Numbers,” focused on blood pressure, cholesterol and heart risk score, “Nourish Your Heart,” which emphasizes increasing whole foods and plant-based meals, and “Exercise,” centered on improving aerobic capacity and functional strength. Each session also provides multiple stress reduction techniques to help alleviate job-related stress.

NWH’s program will reach 300 firefighters this year and was initially piloted at the Newton Fire Department. It is currently running at the Waltham Fire Department and is accredited by the Metropolitan Boston Emergency Medical Council.

At the most recent session, experts from NWH cooked spinach, black bean, and sweet potato quesadillas – an example of a plant-based, heart-healthy meal – alongside Waltham firefighters as part of the “Nourish Your Heart” session.

NWH’s Heart Healthy Community Initiative is coordinated by the hospital’s Cardiovascular Council, a group of community and health care leaders united through their passion to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.