07/06/2026
🚶READY FOR THE NEXT ALARM – CENTRAL NY STEPS CHALLENGE 🚶
The Onondaga County Fire Coalition, Believe 31, and Resilience Ready are proud to partner in promoting the Ready for the Next Alarm – Central NY Steps Challenge, a month-long wellness initiative designed to improve the physical health, mental wellness, and resilience of those who dedicate their lives to serving others.
Every day, members of the emergency services answer the call, often at a moment’s notice. Whether responding to a structure fire, medical emergency, motor vehicle accident, hazardous materials incident, police call, public works emergency, or dispatching those resources from behind the scenes, our physical and mental well-being plays a critical role in our ability to protect the communities we serve.
That is why we are encouraging every member of the emergency services community to take part in this exciting challenge.
📅 Challenge Dates: August 1–31, 2026
📝 Registration: July 6–July 27, 2026
We invite firefighters, EMS providers, paramedics, fire police, dispatchers, law enforcement officers, public works personnel, emergency management professionals, auxiliary members, support members, junior members, retirees, inactive members, and family members to participate. Regardless of your age or fitness level, this challenge is designed for everyone. Every step you take contributes to your department’s total while investing in your own health and well-being.
This challenge isn’t about who can run the fastest or walk the furthest. It’s about making a commitment to yourself, your family, your department, and your fellow responders. Whether you’re taking a walk around your neighborhood, exercising at the gym, hiking a trail, walking the dog, choosing the stairs instead of the elevator, or simply finding more opportunities to move throughout your day, every step counts.
The emergency services profession is physically demanding, mentally exhausting, and emotionally challenging. We spend countless hours training, responding to emergencies, attending meetings, volunteering, and serving our communities. Too often, we place the needs of others before our own.
The Ready for the Next Alarm Steps Challenge is an opportunity to change that.
Healthy responders are better prepared to meet the physical demands of the job. Just as important, maintaining an active lifestyle supports mental wellness, reduces stress, improves resilience, and helps build the strength needed to navigate the challenges that come with serving in the emergency services.
Through this initiative, Resilience Ready, Believe 31, and the Onondaga County Fire Coalition are reinforcing a simple but important message: taking care of yourself is not a luxury, it’s an essential part of being ready to take care of others.
By participating, you’ll:
👟 Improve your overall health and fitness.
❤️ Support your mental health and emotional well-being.
💪 Build resilience to better handle the demands of emergency service.
🤝 Strengthen camaraderie within your department.
🚒 Encourage and motivate fellow members to live healthier lifestyles.
🏆 Represent your department in a fun, friendly competition across Central New York.
This is also an opportunity to strengthen the bonds that make our emergency services family so special.
Encourage your fellow members, challenge neighboring departments, celebrate milestones together, and demonstrate that teamwork extends well beyond the emergency scene.
At the end of the challenge, awards will be presented to:
🥇 1st Place Department
🥈 2nd Place Department
🥉 3rd Place Department
Additionally, every participating department will be recognized for its commitment to health, wellness, resilience, and team spirit.
Remember, success isn’t measured solely by the number of steps you take or where your department finishes on the leaderboard. Success is creating healthier habits, supporting one another, building stronger relationships, and ensuring that every member is physically and mentally prepared for the next call.
As emergency responders, we train relentlessly to prepare for the unexpected. This challenge is another way to prepare, not by responding to an alarm, but by investing in ourselves before that alarm ever sounds.
Together, let’s demonstrate that Central New York’s emergency services community is committed to leading by example, promoting health, wellness, resilience, teamwork, and a culture were taking care of ourselves is just as important as taking care of others.
