The FIREWELL Research Champion series profile our firefighter collaborators and their critical contributions to our research on firefighter health and wellbeing.
Meet Regan Bolduc
Regan Bolduc is a Professional Firefighter with Thunder Bay Fire Rescue and a member of the Thunder Bay Professional Fire Fighters Association (IAFF, Local 193). He is Co-Chair of the Department’s Critical Incident Response Team, as well as a “Road to Mental Readiness” and Auto Extrication Instructor. He was fortunate enough to be part of the team organizing the Road Cycling events for the 2016 Can-Am Police Fire Games which were held in Thunder Bay.
Before starting his professional firefighting career, Regan was involved with the Lappe Volunteer Fire Department where he ultimately served as Deputy Chief.
Regan also completed an Occupational Therapy degree at McMaster University and is a registered Occupational Therapist in Ontario, working in both community care and with the Northern Ontario School of Medicine as Clinical Learning Liaison for Rehab Studies students.
Regan feels honoured and grateful for the amazing personal and career opportunities that his 20 years as an Occupational Therapist, and 17 years in the Fire Service have given him.
How are you involved in FIREWELL?
Northwestern Ontario is unique and there has been little research to consider how our environment and context might influence Firefighter research outcomes from other geographical areas (i.e., Southern Ontario). The study I am involved in is a joint effort between Thunder Bay Fire Rescue, Thunder Bay Professional Fire Fighters Association (IAFF, Local 193), and Dr. Kathryn Sinden (Assistant Professor, Kinesiology) and Ms. Sara Sayed (MSc Trainee) of Lakehead University to identify the impact of firefighting on Thunder Bay Firefighters’ work health.
We are working with Dr. Sinden to identify how firefighting affects our physiology and musculoskeletal health during specific tasks and over longer durations (i.e., 24 – 48 hours). We hope this research will provide important insights into how factors that are related to work injury are affected during firefighting in Thunder Bay, Ontario.
Do you want to be a FIREWELL Research Champion?
If you’re a firefighter who would like to get involved in FIREWELL research, please contact us.