You know the ideal of firemen as swoonsome, stoic hunks who keep us all safe from burning buildings, are gentle enough to rescue kittens from tall trees, and could easily step in to any of the male-stripper roles in Magic Mike 2.
Yeah, not so much. Via the Twitter feed of Omar Wasow comes this interestingNew York Times reality check on the morphology of firemen:
Four out of five firefighters nationwide are overweight or obese, and roughly half of all firefighters who die in the line of duty each year are killed by heart attacks.
It's worth pointing out that the often romanticized danger surrounding fire fighters is every bit as mythical as the idea that most of sport six-pack abs.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, neither fire fighters nor police officers are on the list of the deadliest professions in the U.S.
That list is topped by loggers, commercial fishermen, aircraft pilots and flights engineers, roofers, and garbagemen.
Nor are fire fighters in the top reaches of occupations with non-fatal injuries.
More good news: The rate of injury among fire fighters is declining.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, neither fire fighters nor police officers are on the list of the deadliest professions in the U.S.
That list is topped by loggers, commercial fishermen, aircraft pilots and flights engineers, roofers, and garbagemen.
Nor are fire fighters in the top reaches of occupations with non-fatal injuries.
More good news: The rate of injury among fire fighters is declining.
Yet it's the heightened sense of danger, risk, and sacrifice that is a major reason why public-sector fire fighters and police are able to extract relatively generous collective bargaining agreements with government negotiators and exemption from reforms of the same (recall that Gov. Scott Walker's showdown with Wisconsin public employees over benefits excluded police and fire fighters).
In California, for instance, fire fighters can retire with full benefits at age 57 (recently increased by a few years, incidentally) and the average retirement pension for a 30 year vet is over $86,000.
One of the ways fire fighters negotiate better deals is by arguing that public safety workers have shortened lifespans—in effect, they are not simply sacrificing themselves on the job but by taking the job in the first place.
Yet a 2010 study by CalPERS, which covers public-sector workers found that "the life expectancy of safety members is slightly higher than the life expectancy of miscellaneous members..."
One of the ways fire fighters negotiate better deals is by arguing that public safety workers have shortened lifespans—in effect, they are not simply sacrificing themselves on the job but by taking the job in the first place.
Yet a 2010 study by CalPERS, which covers public-sector workers found that "the life expectancy of safety members is slightly higher than the life expectancy of miscellaneous members..."
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