Fire Fighter/Emergency Medical Technician Suffers an Acute Myocardial Infarction and Dies Three Days Later – Pennsylvania

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baldwin, Tommy N.
• 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 November 21, 2005, a 41-year-old male career Fire Fighter/Emergency Medical Technician (FF/EMT) worked his 24-hour shift, during which he participated in a live-fire exercise and responded to a sprinkler system low-air alarm. The next morning, November 22nd, the FF/EMT went home after his shift and painted a bathroom. He experienced chest pain and called 911. Shortly after the ambulance arrived, he suffered a cardiac arrest and was transported to a hospital where he was treated and then transferred to another hospital for advanced cardiac care. Testing revealed he had suffered an acute heart attack (myocardial infarction [MI]). His condition deteriorated, and he died three days later. The death certificate (completed by the attending physician) listed "atherosclerotic heart disease" due to "acute myocardial infarction" as the cause of death. The autopsy (performed by the pathologist) listed "arteriosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) with acute myocardial infarction
  
  pulmonary emboli" as the cause of death. NIOSH investigators offer the following recommendations to address general safety and health issues. It is unlikely any of these recommendations would have prevented this FF/EMT's death. 1. Incorporate exercise stress tests (ESTs) for fire fighters at increased risk of coronary artery disease (CAD) into the fire department's (FD) periodic medical evaluation program. 2. Discontinue routine annual electrocardiograms (EKGs) unless medically indicated. 3. Perform an annual physical performance (physical ability) evaluation to ensure fire fighters are physically capable of performing the essential job tasks of structural firefighting.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Safety Safety Management Staff Development
• Keywords:
  Cardiac-function Cardiovascular-disease Cardiovascular-function Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Medical-examinations Medical-screening Occupational-health-programs OSHA Region 4 Physical-fitness Safety-education Safety-measures Safety-practices

  More +
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Medical ; Cardiovascular: Heart Attack (Myocardial Infarction, Coronary Artery Disease and Coronary Vascular Disease) ; Non-Cardiac: Pulmonary Embolus
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF200608
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Pennsylvania ; OSHA Region 3
• 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:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20031264
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-103666
• 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 F2006-08, 2006 Nov ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2005/11/21
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:9b29e80dbfaa22fcb4b02fb4ba3b9ce98601dc7080de59c908b57df4664a968e61dc5767c772086efcd18a370687b9e7d17733638b4aa7b4cebdc6b25b1af08f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163673/cdc_163673_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 194.86 KB ]