Can Diabetics Become Firefighter/EMTs?
The short answer is yes, those with diabetes can become firefighters/EMTs/Paramedics. I wouldn’t have this blog if that weren’t the case. The longer answer is that yes, diabetics can become firefighters, however, it involves a few more hoops to jump through than your “regular Joe.”
Becoming a firefighter is a notoriously difficult process. There are tests to take, interviews to pass, and a super not fun physical fitness exam that every firefighter must pass (I’m looking at you CPAT.) Being diabetic makes this process slightly more complex but nowhere near impossible. Right off the rip, you have to be in excellent physical shape. There’s no way to circumvent this obstacle and you have to work at it. Unsurprisingly, firefighting is a physically taxing job, you need to be prepared for this. As someone with diabetes, you need to be in even better shape than those around you. It may not be fair, but people will doubt you just because you have diabetes. Put those doubts to rest, and be the best.
The CPAT itself is a difficult physical fitness exam designed to mimic the duties you will be tasked with in a real emergency. Within ten minutes and twenty seconds, you will have to complete the following stations; a three minute and twenty-second stair climb at sixty steps per minute pace, equipment carry, a forcible entry simulator, a hose drag, a ladder raise, a dummy carry, search pattern, and a pike pull/push simulator. Each event is separated by an eighty-five-foot walk that cannot be run. Oh, and you also need to wear a fifty-pound vest during each event, with an additional twenty-five pounds added during the stair master. So yeah, the CPAT sucks. No two ways about it. The good news is that it’s super doable and requires more mental fortitude than pure physical fitness.
Even more good news is that while diabetes is still excluded from the fire service, NFPA 1582 grants an exception for diabetics who have an A1C under 8% and haven’t had more than two lows in a three-year period. I am not a lawyer, but in my experience, I have been able to obtain a waiver for firefighting from my endocrinologist whenever asked for one. All it took was a phone call to their office and everything was set. The only issue I have ever had in obtaining a waiver was with providers who did not understand diabetes and made outrageous requests (I’ll talk about this some other time,) but I was able to rectify this with a quick email to my endo.
So in conclusion, yes, diabetics can become firefighter/EMTs/Paramedics. The process may involve some more discussion with an endocrinologist, but that’s really it. Everything else is reliant on you, the applicant. Being in top physical shape is a must. Make sure you are prepared for the job and understand the risks you are taking. Be honest with yourself and your physical ability, but also don’t be afraid to take chances. If you dream of becoming a firefighter, then go do it, the only real obstacle is your own self-doubt.