Cover Story

Last year, Frank Fraitzl was told by a doctor that the prosthetic he’d worn his entire life made him unfit for duty as a firefighter in Bedford, New Hampshire, the town where he was born and now raises his two daughters. The news surprised and rankled Fraitzl, who’d spent 14 years as a full-time lieutenant and the last nine years as an on-call firefighter for the town. But the doctor, whom Fraitzl met for the first time during that exam, was resolute: the prosthetic meant no firefighting. New Hampshire leaves the final decision of whether a firefighter is fit to serve up to the local fire chief, however; Bedford’s chief considered the doctor’s advice but ultimately ruled against it. Fraitzl could stay.

Fraitzl knows a thing or two about who can perform the duties of a firefighter — he’s also the full-time fire chief in nearby Milford, New Hampshire. "I’ve never been an outspoken advocate for the disabled," says Fraitzl, 45, who has 25 years of experience as a firefighter. "In fact, I’ve never considered myself disabled." When starting his fire service training in his late teens, he didn’t even check off the disabilities box on the application. Born with a congenital birth defect that required the amputation of his left foot and part of his leg, Fraitzl has used an assortment of prosthetic devices; the latest is made of carbon graphite and is bolted to a carbon socket below his knee. He’s been physically active his entire life.

Fraitzl’s encounter with the doctor coincided with the creation of 10 task groups, formed under NFPA’s Technical Committee on Fire Service Occupational Safety and Health, that are reviewing NFPA 1582, Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments—the same document cited by the doctor who pronounced Fraitzl unfit for service. At its meeting in May, the Technical Committee examined emerging issues that may affect the physical requirements of firefighters for the 2013 edition of the Code. Although the revision process is still in the early stages, changes could make requirements less stringent as a result of strides in medicine and technology, says Glenn Benarick, chair of the Technical Committee and a retired deputy chief with the Fairfax County Fire and Rescue Department in Virginia. "Some of the issues being discussed are specific, such as diabetes, prosthetics, and epilepsy," he says. "Medications and advances in technology, such as prosthetic limbs, may open the door for people who are currently disqualified."

Although new medication and technologies play large roles in the review process, so does the impact of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on the fire service, says Kenneth Willette, division manager of Public Fire Protection at NFPA. "So many soldiers who are also part of the fire service, or who want to join the fire service, have been called upon to serve and have come back with prosthetics," he says. The fact that soldiers are returning to active duty in the military with high-tech prosthetics has raised some fundamental questions: if it’s good enough to go to war with, one query goes, why not fight a fire with it?

Fraitzl will be doing his part as a member of the task group looking at prosthetics and amputees. "I needed to know what these 1582 guidelines were based on," he says about his reason for joining the group. "If there is proven data out there that says I’m unfit for the fire service, I’m willing to be the guinea pig and challenge it."

— Elizabeth Flynn

In this Section:
			NFPA + Disabilities: Where We've Been, Where We Are, Where We're Going A look at some of the many efforts NFPA has undertaken to address the needs of people with disabilities.
			Safe House Mother + daughter sprinkler advocates.
			Mr. T Transportation accessibility manager
			Sound Advice Deaf and hard of hearing emergency preparedness expert.
			On Track Olympic hopeful.
			Teed Off Fire department chief.
			Hidden Challenge Disabilities policy advocate.