The fitness test of the fire brigade is in urgent need of revision. That is one of the main conclusions of a study of the test. The Drenthe Safety Region (VRD) has been critical of the test for years and requested an investigation.
Since the introduction of this fitness test in 2011, the VRD has received ‘signals of dissatisfaction’ and had doubts about its content. “Although this has been indicated several times by the VRD, this did not lead to national movement on the file,” the report states.
The main conclusion is that it is due for revision. “The principles are no longer correct, the protocol contains a number of things that no longer correspond to current fire brigade practice and the test is carried out differently in different regions,” the researchers write.
According to the research, the test affects four parts. This concerns the medical part, the stair climbing test, ‘the tunnel’ and ‘the ball’. “There are doubts about the necessity, topicality, safety and/or completeness of these parts,” the report said.
The tunnel part involves moving 2 x 3 meters forward on the haunches, and then the same distance backwards. And in the ball part, they have to hit a medicine ball ten times against the top of a basket with a rod.
At the beginning of 2024, there is unrest about the fitness test. There was an ‘acute shortage of preparedness’ because some key officials were rejected by the test. “If these persons had been rejected for purely medical reasons, this would have been explainable, but in this case […] “There were no further medical reasons that indicated a reduced capacity to cope,” the report states.
It concerned tall men who were rejected because of the tunnel test, and many women were rejected because of the ball test.
The director of the VRD then took measures. People who were tall and were rejected only because of the tunnel were still allowed to stay. This also applied to women who were rejected solely because of the ball test.
These two tests have already been adapted in Drenthe. The tunnel is raised, depending on the height of the firefighter. For ball bumping, women and men up to 1.70 meters tall are allowed to hit the ball halfway up the basket.
They are also not positive about the stair climbing test in Drenthe. Here firefighters have to climb seven floors of stairs carrying 20 kilograms of work equipment, such as a fire hose. In addition, they are not allowed to stop or hold the handrail.
When it was introduced nationally, it was stated that this should be easy to implement. Because, the inventors argue: ‘If it worked in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Eindhoven, it would also be possible in the rest of the country.’
Yet the practice is different. In Drenthe, the VRD is faced with the fact that there is no building with seven floors, and suitable buildings are not or not always available for fire brigade inspections.
And since 2024, at least four firefighters, spread across all safety regions, have developed heart problems during or after the medical examination.
Fred Heerink, director of the VRD, has shared the report with the other safety regions. Together they have agreed to further develop the fitness test in a national process. “We are currently working together vigorously to resolve the most urgent points. And the first measures will be submitted to the Council of Directors and Commanders of Safety Regions at the beginning of June,” reports VRD.
