Fire Fighter Suffers Heart Attack During Training and Later Dies – Kansas

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baldwin, Tommy N. ; Hales, Thomas R.
• Corporate Authors:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Description:
  Death in the Line of Duty…a Summary of a NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation
  
  On January 22, 2015, a 49-year-old male career fire fighter (FF) participated in air management training during his 24-hour shift as part of the fire department (FD) respiratory protection program. The FF, wearing full turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) (on-air) completed one evolution lasting about 10 minutes without incident. After removing his SCBA and turnout gear, he sat on the engine's tailboard and told his battalion chief (BC) that he "was just a little winded." About 5 minutes later, the FF stated "his chest was hurting." Dispatch was notified as crewmembers noted the FF's clammy skin and a weak and irregular pulse. An electrocardiogram (EKG) revealed changes consistent with an acute myocardial infarction (heart attack), and the FF was transported to the local hospital's emergency department (ED). In the ED, an acute heart attack was confirmed and the FF was taken emergently to the cardiac catheterization lab for coronary angiography and angioplasty. While in the cardiac catheterization lab, the FF suffered cardiac arrest. Despite resuscitation efforts for over 20 minutes, the FF died at 2145 hours. The death certificate listed "MI [myocardial infarction] - acute due to "occlusion of LAD [left anterior descending] on cath [catheterization]" as the cause of death. Due to findings in the cardiac catheterization lab, no autopsy was performed. Given the FF's underlying heart disease, NIOSH investigators concluded that the physical stress of the air management training triggered his heart attack, which resulted in his sudden cardiac death. Key Recommendations: 1. Provide annual medical evaluations to all fire fighters consistent with NFPA 1582, Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments, to identify fire fighters with risk factors for coronary heart disease (CHD). 2. Perform symptom-limiting exercise stress tests (ESTs) on firefighters at increased risk for CHD and sudden cardiac events. The following recommendations would not have prevented the FF's death, but NIOSH investigators include them to address general safety and health issues: 1. Discontinue routine ESTs on asymptomatic fire fighters with no risk factors for CHD. 2. Perform candidate and member physical ability evaluations. 3. Discontinue routine protein specific antigen (PSA) testing. 4. Conduct annual respirator fit testing. 5. Install diesel exhaust source capture systems in fire stations.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Antigens Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Men Mortality Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Protective Clothing Respiratory Protective Devices Risk Assessment Risk Factors Safety Shift Work Schedule Staff Development Vehicle Emissions Workplace

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• Keywords:
  Cardiac-function Cardiovascular-function Cardiovascular-system-disorders Diesel-emissions Diesel-engines Diesel-exhausts Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Health-standards Heart Heart-rate Medical-examinations Medical-monitoring Medical-screening Mortality-data Myocardial-disorders OSHA Region 6 Performance-capability Personal-protective-equipment Physical-capacity Physical-fitness Physical-stress Physiological-effects Protective-clothing Protective-equipment Proteins Respirators Risk-factors Safety-education Safety-equipment Self-contained-breathing-apparatus Shift-work Standards Training Work-environment Work-practices

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• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Medical ; Cardiovascular: Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction, Coronary Artery Disease and Coronary Vascular Disease) ; Cardiovascular: Arrhythmia
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF201502
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Kansas ; OSHA Region 7
• 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:
  1-16
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046764
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2016-100649
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Public Health Service, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, FACE F2015-02, 2015 Jul ; :1-16
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2015/01/22
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:38ad6a59f0cb3113412199df56bb44c9c48930b9fff9f241a7e160dde8dcbcf39bffc72149c720b31735869b61ba8f2554b3d8ec9c92fbe125057feca9c8a2fc
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163412/cdc_163412_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 698.34 KB ]