Welcome to Swedish Medical Center,

By now you have heard ofthe opportunity to participate in a unique Wellness and Fitness evaluation for Seattle Firefighters. Your advisory team has done a great job informing us ofthe needs and expectations of the department members during this process. This briefletter will outline a few ofthe very specific things you need to do to insure a good experience. Two sites will be offered beginning January 2008; one in central Seattle and the other in Factoria. Each examination will last five to six hours and consists of:

To prepare for the exam:

• You will need to fast (no food, juice, soda) for 8 hours prior to the lab test You are encouraged to drink more water to replace other fluids you normally would drink. Avoid caffeinated and sweetened drinks. You may take regular medications, unless you have been instructed otherwise by your private physician. Please note that medications for diabetes may cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) when you are fasting (please consult your personal physician for questions). A snack will be given after the lab tests and physical exam.
• For the treadmill and musculoskeletal exam, wear sweats or exercise shorts, a T-shirt, exercise shoes and, for women, a sports bra.
• Bring your fecal occult blood testing (FOBT) cards. The sponsoring and fimding agencies for this initiative request this testing for all participants. The FOBT results will be considered in making our final recommendation. However, a screening colonoscopy is now considered optimal if you are over age 50 or have certain risk factors. It is not included in this exam. Recommendations for further screening or diagnostic testing will be included in the exam.
• For tests not performed, as part ofthis health assessment, a request for information to your primary health care professional will be offered to allow us to add this information to your health assessment record. We recommend, at minimum, that the American Cancer Society guidelines (www.cancer.org) be followed.