Hi Everyone!!

My name is Kayla Lindsay, I am a firefighter with Burgaw Fire Department in North Carolina and I am a doctoral candidate at the University of Alabama in the Department of Health Science. As most of you know heart disease is a major problem in the fire service, I want to understand why and better help the firefighter population.

I have developed a survey to better understand Firefighters perceived heart disease risk and their intentions to be physically active (the link is below). The information from this survey will help make a case for future funding at the federal level and more successful health interventions at the state level.

I was the first female on Burgaw fire department, my father just retired with 42 years in the fire service and my grandfather with 50 years. So this population is near and dear to my heart. Any help you could give me reaching the firefighter population would be immensely appreciated.

Taking part in this study involves the Firefighters from the departments active roster completing a web survey that will take about 20-30 minutes to complete. This survey contains questions about demographics, heart disease risk, past physical activity behavior, and attitudes towards physical activity.

We will protect your confidentiality by using no identifying information. Only the researcher and associated faculty will have access to the data. The data are password protected and encrypted. Only summarized data will be presented at meetings or in publications.

There will be no direct benefits to you. The findings will be useful to help inform future wellness programs/interventions among the Firefighter population. The field of health education will gain a better understanding of firefighters health needs and beliefs.

The chief risk is that some of the questions may make you uncomfortable. You may skip any questions you do not want to answer.

Below I have provided the link to the survey.

https://universityofalabama.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_3q0mdrBpHo...

Please feel free to contact me as specified below with any questions.

Sincerely,

Kayla M. Lindsay Doctoral Candidate Health Education and Promotion The University of Alabama kmlindsay@crimson.ua.edu