The First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE), in partnership with Sullivan County Division of Public Safety will host a one-day Health & Wellness Seminar. This seminar will examine the critical health risks facing today's fire service, including firefighter physical fitness, nutrition, and cancer awareness. Participants will gain a better understanding of how today's fuel packages, fire dynamics, and toxic exposures are interconnected and contribute to increased cancer risk, as well as how physical fitness plays a major role in optimizing firefighter performance when it matters most. The seminar will provide practical, evidence-based strategies that firefighters can implement to reduce occupational exposures, improve physical fitness and better protect themselves throughout their careers.
About This Event
The First Responder Center for Excellence (FRCE), in partnership with Sullivan County Division of Public Safety will host a one-day Health & Wellness Seminar. This seminar will examine the critical health risks facing today's fire service, including firefighter physical fitness, nutrition, and cancer awareness. Participants will gain a better understanding of how today's fuel packages, fire dynamics, and toxic exposures are interconnected and contribute to increased cancer risk, as well as how physical fitness plays a major role in optimizing firefighter performance when it matters most. The seminar will provide practical, evidence-based strategies that firefighters can implement to reduce occupational exposures, improve physical fitness and better protect themselves throughout their careers.
Agenda:
8:00 AM - 8:30 AM
Breakfast/Coffee/Registration
8:30 AM - 8:45 AM
Welcome
8:45 AM - 9:45 AM
Size Up Your Training: Using Functional Fitness to Improve Performance and Longevity
Lt. Aaron Zamzow
9:45 AM - 10:00 AM
Break
10:00 AM - 11:30 AM
Healthy-ish Eating for First Responders
Megan Lautz
11:30 AM - 12:30 PM
Lunch
12:30 PM - 1:45 PM
Firefighter Look into Research
Captain John Gulotta (Ret.)
1:45 PM - 2:00 PM
Break
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Size Up Your Training: Using Functional Fitness to Improve Performance and Longevity
Lt. Aaron Zamzow
3:00 PM - 3:15PM
Closing
Size Up Your Workouts: Functional Training for Firefighter Performance & Longevity | Lt. Aaron Zamzow
Firefighters and first responders are industrial athletes who must size up our fitness routines just as we would an incident scene—ensuring we choose the right "attack" to minimize injuries and optimize performance. This dynamic 2-hour seminar breaks down the unique physical demands and movement patterns of the modern fireground while evaluating popular fitness trends to see if they truly measure up. Attendees will dive into the six essential components of an effective fire-rescue workout program, learning how to build engaging, functional workouts using simple firehouse equipment. Through practical examples and shift-friendly programming, participants will leave with plug-and-play strategies to reduce injuries, boost performance, and extend their careers.
Healthy-ish Eating for First Responders | Megan Lautz
This session will provide practical nutrition strategies for first responders navigating shift work, unpredictable schedules, and limited food options. Attendees will learn how to build a realistic nutrition foundation and make healthier choices without aiming for a “perfect” diet.
Firefighter Look into Research | John Gulotta
Understanding how firefighters are exposed to hazardous contaminants is critical because it helps the fire srvice recognize risks and adopt safer practices that reduce occupational illness and disease. To build confidence in the science, research must be evidence-based, statistically significant, peer-reviewed, and capable of driving meaningful change. However, research only has value if the fire service understands it. When firefighters understand the evidence, they are more likely to trust the findings, and that trust leads to changes in policies, procedures, and daily habits that reduce exposure and improve long-term health and safety.
Megan Lautz, MS, RD, CSCS, TSAC-F
Megan Lautz is an award-winning Registered Dietitian who helps first responders improve energy and resilience through shiftwork-specific nutrition strategies. She spent over eight years as an embedded civilian dietitian for departments with more than 3,000 first responders, completing thousands of one-on-one coaching sessions and hundreds of station visits.
Megan also holds a contract role as a team dietitian for the Baltimore Orioles MLB organization, supporting professional athletes alongside her work in public safety. She received the ASPDA Trailblazer Award in 2025 for advancing dietetics in public safety. Megan owns RescueRD LLC, which provides custom nutrition programs, training, and education for departments nationwide.
Beginning his career in the fire service in 1988, Captain John Gulotta joined the Tucson Fire Department (TFD) in 1997. He was promoted to Captain in 2005 and, in 2011, became the first Captain in TFD to hold the position of Health and Safety Program Coordinator. Captain Gulotta serves as the Southern Arizona Safety Officer Association chair and provides safety-related leadership to Southern Arizona fire service partners. Captain Gulotta has earned several awards for his service with TFD, including the Firefighter of the Year in 2012 and the Fire Chief’s Award in 2016.In 2025 Named Safety Firefighter of the year with Fire Department Safety Officers Association, FDSOA.
Starting in 2014, Captain Gulotta and TFD began collaborating with the University of Arizona in several studies funded by FEMA to examine the link between occupational toxins in firefighters and increased cancer rates. The original 3-year FEMA-funded research study was designed to develop a framework to test our understanding of which fire ground exposures are responsible for cancer, how they cause cancer and the most effective means of reducing these exposures. This partnership has assisted in developing critical best practices for firefighter occupational cancer prevention in Tucson, AZ, and across the country. Captain Gulotta spearheaded the TFD implementation of three exposure prevention interventions, including post-fire wash- down, engineers-on-air, and maintaining clean cab principles. Captain Gulotta also serves as a TFD representative for the Fire Fighter Cancer Cohort Study (FFCCS.org). His goal is not to get firefighters home at the end of their shift but to ensure that they can fully enjoy their hard-earned pensions. 2023 Captain Gulotta was assigned by TFD to the University of Arizona as a research liaison.
