NIOSH Alert: Preventing Fire Fighter Fatalities Due to Heart Attacks and Other Sudden Cardiovascular Events

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Preventing firefighter fatalities due to heart attacks and other sudden cardiovascular events
• Journal Article:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Description:
  Fire fighters with medical conditions presenting a risk for sudden incapacitation pose a hazard to themselves, their co-workers, and civilians. Medical evaluations can diagnose these medical conditions. The fire service recommends medical evaluations and participation in comprehensive fitness and wellness programs to reduce the number of on-duty CVD fatalities. Findings from the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program have documented that few fire departments experiencing on-duty cardiac-related deaths of fire fighters have implemented member medical evaluation programs. Few have followed published guidelines regarding medical clearance for return-to-work. In addition, few have developed and encouraged participation in comprehensive fitness and wellness programs. These NIOSH findings were consistent with a subsequent USFA survey that report 76% of fire departments lacked programs to maintain basic fire fighter fitness and health USFA 2006. Obvious barriers to implementing these programs are costs, job security issues, and (for voluntary fire departments) maintaining a critical number of members. Additional research is needed to identify factors that can lower these barriers, thereby reducing the number of on-duty fire fighter fatalities due to CVD. Description provided by NIOSH
• Subjects:
  • Accidents, Occupational
  • Cardiovascular Diseases
  • Cardiovascular System
  • Death, Sudden, Cardiac
  • Emergencies
  • Firefighters
  • Fires
  • Myocardial Infarction
  • Occupational Health
  • Preventive Medicine
  More +
• Keywords:
  • Cardiovascular-disease; Cardiovascular-function; Cardiovascular-system-disorders; Cardiovascular-system-disease; Cardiovascular-function-tests; Medical-examinations; Fire-fighters; Preventive-medicine
• Source:
  Cincinnati, OH: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2007-133, 2007 Jun; :1-26
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• Subseries:
  Alert
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  32 pdf pages
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032194
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-112578
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services ; Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/11451/cdc_11451_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 19.65 MB]
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:89df580b19fea2d41bc0b80d2d88cb226042a398da98aa1dcd33f1a53d66a56bdd1626cc78aba328eb5dc32c84da472320e36a392adb4cfc18cc0df5aa2d32af