Ian Crosby

Background

Ian is a 30 plus year veteran of the Calgary Fire Department (CFD) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and currently serves in the role of District Chief. He is a member of Calgary Fire Fighters Association, IAFF Local 255. Midway through his career he was tasked with establishing his department’s Peer Fitness Trainer (PFT) and Wellness-Fitness Initiative (WFI) program, which at the time were not in existence. Ian was the full-time wellness-fitness coordinator at CFD for 10 years during which he and his staff built and matured both programs, setting them on a positive trajectory. As a consequence of his and his team’s efforts, CFD members have access to a variety of wellness-fitness related resources today. Most notable is CFD’s Wellness Centre, a facility that specializes in assessing fire fighters’ physical fitness and mental and physical health by employing best practices and current research.

Ian played a central role in the development and implementation of the original IAFF/IAFC Joint Labor Management Wellness-Fitness Initiative and was a member of the delegation from CFD that attended the very first WFI meeting in 1999. Additionally, he also helped develop the IAFFF/IAFC Peer Fitness Trainer (PFT) program, and is an inaugural member of the instructor cadre. Since the inception of the program Ian has taught numerous classes across North America and is still an active member of the team. He loves teaching fire fighters because of the dedication and passion they bring to classes, and their innate desire to want to be helpful to others. Being around like-minded people is extremely motivating for Ian, and it helps him maintain his engagement and passion for fire fighter wellness.

Activity Habits

Outside of work Ian leads a busy and active lifestyle. He loves being outdoors in all seasons, and living in Calgary, he especially loves to get into the mountains. Winters for Ian are spent snow-shoeing, and cross country and downhill skiing, while in the Summer he can be found on his road bike or at his lake house partaking in all manner of water sports. Over the years Ian has built a great home gym and regularly engages in resistance training and cardio-based training when he is not on shift.

Ian has been active his whole life and has continued to be involved in exercise and physical activity even though his interests and motivations have changed over time. Sport was a big focus of his early in life and into young adulthood, and he played Football at university. As he began his career in the fire service he found that exercise and physical activity helped him cope with the physical and emotional challenges that accompany the job, but also that movement-based pursuits helped him build resiliency against these challenges. Being active also helps Ian manage some of the nagging injuries he has accumulated over his life. Like everyone, time and scheduling demands sometimes make it hard for him to be as active as he would like. Ian has found success with deliberately scheduling exercise early in the day and keeping an open mind when it comes to finding creative options to be physically active when his original plan can’t be executed.

Perspectives on F2T and fire fighter wellness and fitness

In Ian’s opinion, one of the things that makes the F2T program unique is its focus on being inclusive. The program doesn’t only cater to fire fighters would are currently active, but aims to involve all fire fighters despite their exercise background, health status, and/or general interest in wellness and fitness. The program’s design is inspired by the strong team atmosphere inherent to the fire service, and he believes this is an asset when it comes to expanding its reach across the fire service. Ian would like all fire fighters and departments to know that the program is simple and adaptable. One doesn’t necessarily need allot of equipment and resources because the program can be scaled and suited to the needs/capabilities of a department or individual fire fighter.

Ian would advise fire fighters thinking about investing in their wellness and fitness that it is the best investment that they can make. He feels strongly that failing health can significantly impact the plans fire fighters have made for their retirement, but more immediately can limit the joy they can get out of their day-to-day lives. By taking small steps towards improving their wellness and fitness, fire fighters can increase their likelihood of enjoying a long and healthy career and retirement.