Firefighting is no easy job and for more proof of that, Sacramento city firefighters are looking to add a full-time doctor to their department this year. It’s a new way to get injured firefighters back on the front lines faster.
Besides helmets and hoses, the fire department is asking for an in-house and on-site doctor of physical therapy position to help reduce and recover from on-the-job injuries.
Over the past 10-years, the fire department has received $55 million in workers’ comp claims, the highest number of claims citywide. In that time, the city has paid for 386,000 hours of injured on-duty leave time.
The ask comes in the aftermath of Sacramento’s $66 million budget deficit, with the fire department reporting that the money spent on the new physical therapist would save money.
The city is already budgeting for $10 million in backfill staffing costs from injuries this year alone.
Sacramento’s fire department is taking this idea from the city of Denver, which has its own in-house physical therapist. The city council is expected to vote on this position on Tuesday.