The occupational health effects of responding to a natural gas pipeline explosion among emergency first responders — Lincoln County, Kentucky, 2019

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Disaster Med Public Health Prep
• Personal Author:
  Bui, David P. ; Kukielka, Esther A. ; Blau, Erin F. ; Tompkins, Lindsay K. ; Bing, K. Leann ; Edge, Charles ; Hardin, Rebecca ; Miller, Diane ; House, James ; Boehmer, Tegan ; Winquist, Andrea ; Orr, Maureen ; Funk, Renée ; Thoroughman, Doug
• Description:
  Objective:
  
  Assess occupational health effects one month after responding to a natural gas pipeline explosion.
  
  Methods:
  
  First responders to a pipeline explosion in Kentucky were interviewed about pre- and post-response health symptoms, post-response healthcare, and physical exertion and personal protective equipment (PPE) use during the response. Logistic regression was used to examine associations between several risk factors and development of post-response symptoms.
  
  Results:
  
  Among 173 first responders involved, 105 (firefighters [58%], emergency medical services [19%], law enforcement [10%], and others [12%]) were interviewed. Half (53%) reported at least one new or worsening symptom, including upper respiratory symptoms (39%), headache (18%), eye irritation (17%), and lower respiratory symptoms (16%). The majority (79%) of symptomatic responders did not seek post-response care. Compared with light-exertion responders, hard-exertion responders (48%) had significantly greater odds of upper respiratory symptoms (aOR: 2.99, 95% CI: 1.25–7.50). Forty-four percent of responders and 77% of non-firefighter responders reported not using any PPE.
  
  Conclusions:
  
  Upper respiratory symptoms were common among first responders of a natural gas pipeline explosion, and associated with hard-exertion activity. Emergency managers should ensure responders are trained in, equipped with, and properly use PPE during these incidents and encourage responders to seek post-response healthcare when needed.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Emergency Responders Explosions Humans Natural Gas Occupational Health
• Source:
  Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 16(5):1997-2004
• Pubmed ID:
  34544524
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC8934741
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Place as Subject:
  Kentucky
• Volume:
  16
• Issue:
  5
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha256:ba55d960df9efb9453f83bf9940623eea8c461eb074d90c85e6cb4cab88b1312
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/115603/cdc_115603_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 258.02 KB ]