Lieutenant Suffers Fatal Heart Attack During a Fire in a Commercial Structure – 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 April 16, 2012, a 47-year-old male career lieutenant (LT) responded with his crew to a commercial fire. After operating on scene for about an hour, a chief officer noticed that the LT was not looking well and summoned the Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) to remove the LT from the building. Once removed from the building, the LT's care was transferred to on-scene Emergency Medical Service (EMS) personnel. The LT reported that he was fine, but during the EMS initial evaluation, the LT had seizure-like activity and became unresponsive. A cardiac monitor revealed ventricular tachycardia and the LT was defibrillated (shocked) but this did not result in a stable heart rhythm. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced life support on scene, en route to the hospital, and in the emergency department (ED), the LT died. The death certificate and autopsy report listed the immediate cause of death as "acute thrombotic occlusion of left anterior descending coronary artery" due to "atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease." NIOSH investigators conclude that the physical exertion associated with his work at the fire triggered the LT's myocardial infarction (heart attack) and sudden cardiac death. 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 (FD) across the country. 1. Perform symptom limiting exercise stress tests on FFs at increased risk for coronary heart disease and sudden cardiac events. 2. Review policies and procedures to ensure appropriate use of respiratory protection on the fire ground. 3. Consider a more comprehensive annual physical performance (physical ability) evaluation.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cardiovascular-disease Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Medical-screening OSHA Region 2 Physical-fitness
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Medical ; Cardiovascular: Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction, Coronary Artery Disease and Coronary Vascular Disease) ; Non-Cardiac: Carbon Monoxide Poisoning
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF201216
• 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:
  1-15
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20041963
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2013-103499
• 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 F2012-16, 2012 Dec ; :1-15
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2013
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2012/04/16
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a03393dccad0ff64eade5a894fe863449823dc61ab5b5726caf9bfc520eb24f6552389e134036ff2502ec95d6a962c944c0b711e4d3970211419186fa5cbfa2d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163472/cdc_163472_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.87 MB ]