Volunteer Fire Chief Suffers Cardiac Arrest at Brush Fire – North Carolina

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 3, 2013, a 44-year-old Fire Chief experienced coughing, shortness of breath, and difficulty breathing while functioning as incident commander at a brush fire. The Chief drove himself to an on-scene ambulance and requested assistance. On-scene emergency medical service (EMS) personnel performed an initial assessment, initiated care, and began transport. En route to the emergency department (ED), the Chief suffered cardiac and respiratory arrest. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) in the ambulance for about 60 minutes, the Chief died. The death certificate and autopsy report, both completed by the County Medical Examiner's office, listed the cause of death as "atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease." The autopsy revealed a massively enlarged heart with severe coronary atherosclerosis. Given the presentation of his illness and his underlying heart disease discovered at autopsy, the Chief's respiratory distress was probably due to acute exacerbation of undiagnosed heart failure, precipitated by any of the following: a hypertensive crisis, ischemia, a heart attack, or a primary arrhythmia. 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. Ensure fire fighters are cleared for duty by a physician knowledgeable about the physical demands of firefighting, the personal protective equipment used by fire fighters, and the various components of NFPA 1582. 3. Phase in a mandatory comprehensive wellness and fitness program for fire fighters.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Firefighters Fires Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cardiovascular Disease Fire Fighters Fire Fighting Heart Medical Screening OSHA Region 4 Physical Fitness Physical Stress
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Medical ; Cardiovascular: Congestive Heart Failure
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF201310
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  North Carolina ; OSHA Region 4
• 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:20043112
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2013-110591
• 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 F2013-10, 2013 Aug ; :1-13
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2013/03/03
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:819a7257a6380f7d50cf198a0266a2b99ce1b1109e7f765a163dfffa07b256f44c518407372d3b7d3f4725596fe32f183cce5edba3d460860b57df54c23855f5
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163456/cdc_163456_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 346.05 KB ]