INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) – Firefighters around Indianapolis have a new place to get fixed up if they get hurt on the job. The temporary home of the IFD Health and Wellness Center is in the basement of the department’s headquarters downtown.
This effort is a collaboration between firefighters and a group started by former Colts Super Bowl Champion Jim Sorgi and St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Joey Vendever, called ProTeam Tactical Performance.
The goal is to give firefighters the kinds of treatment athletes get.
“We’re asked to wake up at 2 a.m. out of a dead sleep and perform and you don’t get time to stretch and touch your toes and that kind of thing,” said firefighter Ron Doughty. “You’re asked to go do a job.”
“We’ve got to have these people who run into buildings, into houses that are on fire, instead of like us who run away from it, in peak physical condition and as healthy as possible,” said co-owner Jim Sorgi.
“With our partnership with them and the level of excitement, it’s been pretty darn cool to see within the last couple of days,” said co-owner Joey Vendever.
This is also expected to save hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars just from physical therapy sessions.
A permanent location is expected to open on the south side in 2019.
