The Bergen Record, a northern New Jersey large-circulation daily newspaper, recently published an article, "Firefighter Health a Cause for Alarm," examining firefighter line-of-duty deaths in the state. Not surprisingly, its focus narrowed in on the 80 percent of firefighter deaths in New Jersey that have been linked to heart attacks. But the article also underscored the fact that fire departments in that state "do little to promote the health and fitness among members. Few require annual physicals...or offer even simple fitness equipment like treadmills and weights."

The article cited the age factor in line-of-duty heart attack deaths. Nationally, since 2004, 123 of 232 firefighter line-of-duty deaths were from heart attacks; in that same period, eight of 10 firefighter line-of-duty deaths in New Jersey were from heart attacks. Given the fact that more than half the state's 40,000 are over the age of 41, and given the difficulty in recruiting new members to the fire department, the risk is increasing.

One career firefighter was quoted as saying, "It's up to the guys to take care of themselves. First, there's the issue of the cost of the physicals to the towns. And then there's the issue that the guys should be taking care of themselves." A volunteer chief said, "We have a tough enough time getting people to volunteer. I'll bet you'd deplete half of the fire department if members had to take physicals."

Obviously, these are not issues specific to New Jersey. The following is excerpted from the Bergen Record article:

"He was my soul mate"

It's been more than two years since Glenn Galderisi jumped onto a Wayne Fire Department truck to respond to a pair of false alarms. He never came home. Now, Alyson Galderisi's living room is a shrine to her fallen husband, who collapsed shortly after he returned to the firehouse. Glenn's helmet sits proudly atop the mantel. Nearby are photos of Glenn astride the Pompton Fire Department rig, smiling.

Some days, she's so angry he's gone that she turns the photos to face the wall. "I have no fear of death now, because I feel the best part of my life has been lived," she said. "He was my soul mate."

At 52, Glenn was a big, strapping guy. A bit overweight, she said, but there was never any sign something might be wrong. He'd been a volunteer firefighter for more than 30 years, answering hundreds of calls.

Two months before Glenn Galderisi died, President Bush signed the Hometown Heroes Survivors Benefits Act, which offers death benefits for volunteer firefighters killed by strokes or heart attacks in the line of duty. She's applied for a $267,000 death benefit.

When an agent from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health visited to help her fill out the forms, he asked what might have prevented her husband's death.

"I told him it might have helped if Glenn had been given a physical," she said. "I don't know if it would have saved him, but the doctor might have spotted something. I'll never know."

Taxpayers suffer, too

When a firefighter drops dead of a heart attack in the line of duty, everyone pays. The widow of a firefighter who dies at age 45 and leaves two kids can expect to collect almost $2 million in benefits via worker's compensation and the federal programs.

"It is an enormous expense, and it's all paid for by the taxpayers," said David Grubb, the executive director of the Bergen County Joint Insurance Fund, the municipal insurance pool that covers the county's fire departments. "There is a real need for change."

Grubb said requiring young firefighters to undergo annual physicals "wouldn't make sense." But JIF officials are mulling changes, among them whether older firefighters should be subject to more frequent medical evaluations.

"Take a guy who is in his 20s, who doesn't smoke, who doesn't have hypertension -- young guys don't need to be checked out every year," Grubb said. "But a guy in his mid-40s who is overweight and has hypertension, that's the guy you want to keep your eye on."

Grubb said the state has tried in previous years to force firefighters to take more physicals, "but has already run into a buzz saw."

"The opposition comes from the firefighters themselves," he said. "They love what they do. Nobody wants to be told that they can't do the job anymore."