Fitness Program

The East Chicago Fire Department encourages the firefighters to stay in shape by providing them with adequate facilities in house, thanks to monies from the FEMA grant, and at the East Chicago High School Fitness Center located behind Central High School.

The department’s fitness coordinator Assistant Chief of Personnel James O’Donnell has established a fitness program for the firefighters and the front office staff.  O’Donnell with the help of ECFD Fire Chief Val Gomez, East Chicago City Council and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) obtained the necessary funds to kick off the program.  With the funds in place, O’Donnell turned to St. Catherine’s Hospital to develop a program for everyone.

The program developed by the ECFD and St. Catherine Hospital’s Occupational Health Department screens all employees for disease risk factors.  This program includes a physical exam, vision screening, hearing test, pulmonary function test, EKG, blood work, urinalysis, hemoccult test, chest X-ray, stress test, PSA and digital rectal exam for men and a breast exam and mammogram for women. 

Additional counseling and programming offered by St Catherine’s to employees such as smoking cessation programs and nutritional counseling, help those employees diagnosed with a health risk.  Follow–up testing and evaluations are also offered to help the employees keep track of their health by seeing the results of their efforts and evaluating their risk factor modifications.

Tom Halterman, certified strength and conditioning specialist and certified personal trainer at East Chicago Fitness Center, offers personalized training sessions and helps the employees learn to use the fitness equipment to increase physical activity and improve their health. 

With the knowledge acquired from the health test and the personal trainer, the employees can then take advantage of the workout facilities provided for them.  Employees can opt to workout in house on down time or on their days off or go to the East Chicago Fitness Center.