Captain Suffers Heart Attack During Fire Suppression and Dies Two Days Later- Texas

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 February 19, 2015, a 56-year-old male career Captain was dispatched to a house fire. At the scene, the Captain and a fire fighter, both wearing full turnout gear and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA), stretched a 1 3/4-inch hoseline to a window and sprayed water through the window's burglar bars. After another crew opened the burglar bars on the front door, the Captain and other fire fighters entered the house to continue fire suppression. After approximately 10 minutes, the Captain exited the house, remarking that he could not breathe and was having chest pains. After sitting on Ladder 46's bumper, he removed his SCBA and turnout gear. When moved to a stretcher, he became unresponsive, and lost his pulse and respirations. On scene ambulance paramedics provided advanced life support (cardiac monitoring, intravenous [IV] line placement, IV medications, and rescue airway) which continued en route to the local hospital's emergency department (ED). The ambulance arrived at the ED at 1945 hours where an acute heart attack with complications of cardiogenic shock was confirmed. Despite 24 hours of life support, the Captain suffered irreversible anoxic brain damage. In consultation with the family, life support was removed and the Captain died on February 21, 2015. The death certificate and autopsy report listed "complications of myocardial infarct [myocardial infarction] due to hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease" as the cause of death. The autopsy report also listed obesity and diabetes mellitus as contributory factors. Given the Captain's underlying and undiagnosed heart disease, NIOSH investigators concluded that the physical stress of his activities at the structure fire triggered his heart attack, which resulted in his 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 at increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD). 2) Perform symptom-limiting exercise stress tests (ESTs) on firefighters at increased risk for CHD and sudden cardiac events. 3) Ensure that fire fighters are cleared for duty by a physician knowledgeable about the physical demands of fire fighting, the personal protective equipment used by fire fighters, and the components of NFPA 1582. 4) Perform an annual physical ability evaluation. 5) Phase in a mandatory comprehensive wellness and fitness program for fire fighters.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Blood Body Weight Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Firefighters Fires Hematologic Diseases Nervous System Nervous System Diseases Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Respiratory Protective Devices Safety

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• Keywords:
  Blood-sugar-disorders Body-weight Brain-damage Cardiovascular-disease Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Fire-fighters Fire-fighting Fire-fighting-equipment Health-standards Heart Medical-screening Myocardial-disorders OSHA Region 6 Personal-protective-equipment Physical-fitness Physical-stress Physiological-effects Physiological-factors Physiology Respirators Self-contained-breathing-apparatus Weight-factors

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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/NIOSHFFFACEF201504
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Texas ; OSHA Region 6
• 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:
  1-19
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20046718
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2015-105667
• Citation:
  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, FACE F2015-04, 2015 Jul ; :1-19
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2015
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2015/02/19
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:fbce23e673f4fe3593f7585a67533cf36fc7a84f2515257c3453a3a479c6269d947b297adad80bf17a970f5ff8b39251ff3c4e6fd6915f27d702e20f964c0534
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163413/cdc_163413_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 716.52 KB ]