Medics Cross the USA

A group of us who were interested in improving our own fitness, as well as the fitness of our fellow employees, decided to put our heads together to design a good program. Our agency, Mecklenburg EMS, has initial fitness standards in order to be hired, but no further testing or maintenance is required once you become a full-time employee. We all worked with some people who were always close to peak fitness and some who needed a little encouragement. We wanted a program that would be easy to do and maintain, was flexible, and that included a “finish line” or specific goal. We got the idea that “crossing” the United States (charting approximately 3,000 miles) by any self-propelled means would be something that was both obtainable and visual—participants could see their progress tracked on a map. We decided to form teams for group support and to mix up the fitness levels for inspiration. We named our program “Medics Cross the USA.”

Generating Interest

The first thing we did was send an interest letter to all employees explaining the program and including a place for them to sign up, if interested. We included trail mix in little gift bags with the slogan, “Follow the trail to fitness…, call ________ if interested in joining.” Giving employees a little snack was a great way to entice them to open up lines of communication for any questions that might break through resistance. Over 20% of our employees signed up.

The next step was to set up mini physical exams consisting of weight, height, blood pressure, body fat and flexibility assessments to set the baseline. Participants were also required to sign a release and complete a physical activity readiness questionnaire fitness assessment that looked at major health risk factors to see if people needed additional testing or restrictions before starting a fitness program.

The participating medics were then split into 12 different teams with six members per team. With some slow starters, some non-starters, shift and job changes, we ended up with 11 teams of mostly six people, each identified by a different color.

Measuring Success

The goal of the program was for each team to make it from North Carolina (where we are) to California by keeping track of their mileage while working out. The first team to get there would be entered into a raffle for a gift certificate at Grove Park Inn, a terrific spa in Asheville.

All forms of cardiovascular fitness were acceptable in our program—running, walking, biking, swimming, and there were even calculations for aerobics. Most of our medics liked this approach because they were not limited to one piece of equipment or one style of exercising.

Each week, team members were responsible for sending their mileage to their team captain, and then the team captains forwarded the totals to me. Each team’s mileage was then plotted out with colored sticker dots on a map that was located in the bay for all employees to see. As the miles accumulated, each team’s progress was charted across the country like a trail. Teams would receive incentive items (gift cards, apparel, etc.) for each 1,000 miles they achieved.

We ended the program after seven months when the Green Team won, accumulating 3,000 miles—hundreds of miles ahead of the rest of us. Altogether though, our 11 teams clocked over 20,000 miles! And improved fitness levels across the board made everyone feel like winners.

The agency has also shown its commitment to fitness and employee wellness by continuing to supply the workout room with new equipment, including cooling fans and a radio to make the environment more pleasant. It feels good—fitness is becoming a regular thing.

Lessons Learned

This program showed itself to be a great way to increase morale and get employees interested in their physical fitness levels from the start. We continued learning and figuring out different ways to manage it as weeks progressed. At least once a month I did my best to hand out a healthy snack like air-popped popcorn for the Super Bowl, and pretzel sticks with a note that said “Stick with it!” We found simply staying in touch with program participants, with and without incentive gifts, was an important element in keeping interest from dropping off.

We also used a weekly newsletter with a different topic each issue, ranging from motivation to nutrition to fitness. These were usually just 1–2 pages and were placed in participants’ mailboxes. This way we could ask questions about how participants were doing and also let everyone know which teams had reached milestones: Virginia, Ohio, 1,000 miles and so on.

“Medics Cross the USA” was a great starting point for bringing fitness into the culture of our EMS agency. The team approach helped with motivation as well as with safety when many of the teams started working out together. One medic made a point to express his thanks just recently, saying, “Our team didn’t win, but I lost 35 lbs.!” He said he’s still working out and feels much better. And he’s not alone. At least as many women participated as men, and now people are saying we need more showers to keep up with the demand.

Rich King, an active participant who said he thoroughly enjoyed the team support and the opportunity to improve his overall wellness, also observed, “This is a unique program in that it’s preventive,” preparing his body for the demands of his job.

Annette Barnett likes how the program “keeps me accountable to the team, while maintaining a workout schedule,” addressing two classic obstacles to regular exercise: motivation and making it routine.

In the future, we’ll be doing a variety of different programs; we’re continuously working on self-motivational fitness ideas to reach all employees. We started a one-month Build Up Your Back program in October to focus on strengthening backs and teaching back-safety awareness—a typical area of risk for EMS workers. Next spring, we’ll initiate another long-term program, though probably only four months in duration, possibly with individually-based challenges within several different fitness levels, and see how that compares to mixed teams.

For anyone wanting to start a program within his or her agency, I would recommend starting with something like a four- or five-month program that’s fun and provides group support. Activity in our workout room has probably doubled since the start of the program and that alone shows that people are motivated and encouraging each other!