Fire Fighter-Paramedic Suffers On-Duty Cardiac Death at Fire Station – 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 June 22, 2011, a 35-year-old male career fire fighter-paramedic (FF-P) was working a 24-hour shift on a rescue unit (ambulance). During the shift he responded to 10 emergency medical calls and participated in classroom training. After the last call at 0511 hours on June 23, 2011, the FF-P returned to the fire station at 0608 hours and went to bed. At approximately 0745 hours, the FF-P was found unresponsive. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced life support were begun, and the FF-P was transported to the local hospital's emergency department (ED). Despite medical treatment at the fire station, in the ambulance, and in the ED, the FF-P died. The death certificate and autopsy listed "atherosclerotic coronary artery disease" as the cause of death. Whether the physical stress of emergency response was sufficient to trigger his sudden cardiac death remains unclear. NIOSH investigators offer the following recommendations to address general safety and health issues, but these recommendations probably would not have prevented the FF-P's death. 1. Provide preplacement and annual medical evaluations to all fire fighters in accordance with NFPA 1582, Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program for Fire Departments. 2. Discontinue lumbar spine x-rays as a screening test administered during the preplacement medical evaluation.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Firefighters Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cardiovascular-disease Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Fire-fighters Fire-fighting Heart Medical-screening OSHA Region 6 Physical-fitness Physical-stress
• 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/NIOSHFFFACEF201202
• 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:
  1-10
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20040888
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2012-110777
• 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 F2012-02, 2012 Jun ; :1-10
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2012
• NORA Priority Area:
  Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  922160 - Fire Protection - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2011/06/22
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:e095f029a5691b2f76c57eea4f1666c3b32980b5ee44dcb475b5278f30858d0f062ca779864020f662bfd253ab83967d6b1d32835d54fcb1aaaa44d856148a2a
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163495/cdc_163495_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 468.70 KB ]