Corporal Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death at Structure Fire – Oklahoma

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 4, 2009, a 43-year-old career fire fighter (Corporal) responded to a structural fire in a two-story apartment complex. The Corporal was initially assigned to the rapid intervention team (RIT) and, after the fire was brought under control, assigned to overhaul for about 24 minutes. After loading equipment on the apparatus and while preparing to leave the fire scene, the Corporal complained of severe back pain and then collapsed. Despite advanced life support (ALS) and cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) delivered immediately by crew members, continued by the ambulance crew, and by physicians at the hospital's emergency department (ED), the Corporal could not be revived. The death certificate completed by the pathologist from the office of the Chief Medical Examiner, listed "coronary artery disease" as the cause of death. NIOSH investigators agree with this assessment and concluded that the Corporal probably had a fatal heart attack triggered by his fire fighting duties. Key Recommendations - NIOSH offers the following recommendation to reduce the risk of heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest among fire fighters at this, and other fire departments (FD) across the country. It is unlikely, however, that the following recommendation could have prevented the Corporal's death: 1. Provide medical evaluations consistent with NFPA 1582.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Accident Prevention Accidents Accidents, Occupational Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Accident-analysis Accident-prevention Cardiovascular-disease Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Medical-screening OSHA Region 6 Physical-fitness
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Medical ; Cardiovascular: Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction, Coronary Artery Disease and Coronary Vascular Disease)
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF201003
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Oklahoma ; 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:
  1-11
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20036805
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2018-101043
• 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 F2010-03, 2010 Apr ; :1-11
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2010
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services: Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2009/03/04
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bf5276e041e14aad7a2e608d950dfb772405ab202a9c389f447a67bb92ab90435b34f6aad7fc271a76ae928baaaa0f9cf32a6273a58500a8df120b23258b1a69
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163553/cdc_163553_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 435.85 KB ]