Volunteer Fire Captain Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death While Responding to a Call – New York

Details

• Personal Author:
  Smith, Denise L. ; 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 March 8, 2013, a 60-year-old volunteer Fire Captain failed to respond to the scene of an emergency call at 1054 hours. Several hours later (1530 hours) he was found laying in his driveway wearing a jacket with his fire department logo
  
  his personal vehicle was running and the windshield was partially cleared of snow. Emergency medical service (EMS) personnel reported that the Captain was unresponsive with significant rigor mortis and no signs of life. Based on the local EMS protocols, the Captain was pronounced dead at the scene. Neighbors witnessed the Captain walking in his front yard less than a half hour before the call (1030 hours). Therefore, the Captain was assumed to be responding to the emergency call when he suffered a sudden cardiac event. The autopsy report, completed by the County's Medical Examiner's office, listed the cause of death as "atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease." The autopsy revealed severe coronary atherosclerosis with a remote (old) myocardial infarction, cardiomegaly, and left ventricular hypertrophy. NIOSH offers the following recommendations to reduce the risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest among fire fighters at this and other fire departments across the country. 1. Ensure that all fire fighters receive an annual medical evaluation consistent with NFPA 1582, Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments. 2. Perform symptom-limiting exercise stress tests on fire fighters at increased risk for coronary heart disease (CHD) and sudden cardiac events. 3. Discontinue routine screening chest x-rays for members, unless clinically indicated. 4. Develop a mandatory comprehensive wellness and fitness program. 5. Perform a preplacement and an annual physical performance (physical ability) evaluation for all members.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Safety
• Keywords:
  Cardiac-function Cardiovascular-system Cardiovascular-system-disorders Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Heart Job-analysis Medical-examinations Medical-monitoring OSHA Region 2 Physical-capacity Physical-fitness Physical-stress Preemployment-examinations Preventive-medicine

  More +
• 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/NIOSHFFFACEF201321
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  New York ; OSHA Region 2
• 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:
  1-13
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043855
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2014-105085
• 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 F2013-21, 2014 Mar ; :1-13
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2013/03/08
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7256fd9bf8a6d69d38f690117a04e426429ad951c62e378ce3c7202653b7610b7148ac5e04f78f63e01a34f21f7514c7c5224c37df47d39bdd0df5048c9de060
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163447/cdc_163447_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 536.57 KB ]