Fire Fighter Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death While Responding to Residential Structure Fire – Michigan

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 26, 2013, a 22-year-old male volunteer fire fighter ("FF") responded to his fire station for a structure fire call. He and a crew member loaded coolers of water bottles into his pickup truck and responded toward the scene
  
  the crew member was driving. A few blocks from the fire station, the FF began to have difficulty breathing and became unresponsive. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced life support on the scene, in transport, and at the hospital, the FF died. The death certificate and the autopsy completed by the county medical examiner listed "sudden cardiac event (probable cardiac arrhythmia) of unknown etiology" as the cause of death. The FF's autopsy showed an enlarged heart with left ventricular hypertrophy, but no "characteristic gross or histologic features of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy." Given the FF's previously undiagnosed heart disease, NIOSH investigators concluded that the physical exertion of loading the coolers into his truck and/or the stress of responding to the structure fire may have triggered an arrhythmia that resulted in his sudden cardiac death. The following recommendations would not have prevented the FF's death. Nonetheless, NIOSH investigators offer these recommendations to address general safety and health. Provide preplacement and annual medical evaluations to all fire fighters in accordance with NFPA 1582, Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments. Ensure that fire fighters are cleared for return to duty by a physician knowledgeable about the physical demands of fire fighting, the personal protective equipment used by fire fighters, and the various components of NFPA 1582. Phase in a mandatory comprehensive wellness and fitness program for fire fighters. Provide fire fighters with medical clearance to wear SCBA as part of the Fire Department's medical evaluation program.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Autopsy Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Mortality Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Safety
• Keywords:
  Autopsies Cardiac-function Cardiovascular-system Cardiovascular-system-disorders Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Heart Job-analysis Medical-examinations Medical-monitoring Mortality-data OSHA Region 5 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 ; Cardiovascular: Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF201320
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Michigan ; 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:
  1-12
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20043597
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2014-103459
• 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 F2013-20, 2013 Dec ; :1-12
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2014
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2013/02/26
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:b2c7ab42c16d3ba3c2547425f8fe68a1c6c51e5633b5833ea6f7dfa71ef929b7ab328616d94df362f7fdb6db2749a016b276020ab7f7ed912f0d8b1954ef9087
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163451/cdc_163451_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 368.58 KB ]