District Chief Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death at Home After Experiencing Symptoms Consistent with Heart Disease at his Station – Illinois

Details

• Personal Author:
  Jackson, J. Scott ; Kaufman, Rachel
• 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 18, 2004, a 45-year-old male career District Chief (DC) was relieved from his shift and dropped off at his residence. Approximately 21 hours later, he was found lying on his couch unresponsive, pulseless, not breathing, cyanotic, and mottled. Due to his clinical appearance (deceased), cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was not begun and no ambulance was requested. The death certificate and autopsy report, both completed by the County Coroner, listed "cardiac arrhythmia" as the cause of death due to "ischemic heart disease." The first four recommendations below are preventative measures recommended by other fire service groups to reduce the risk of on-the-job heart attacks and sudden cardiac arrest among fire fighters. The final recommendation addresses a potential safety issue related to this particular event. 1. Include a lipid panel in the Fire Department's excellent pre-placement medical evaluation program. 2. Provide mandatory annual medical evaluations to ALL fire fighters consistent with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) Standard 1582 to determine their medical ability to perform duties without presenting a significant risk to the safety and health of themselves or others. 3. Negotiate with the local union to phase in a mandatory fitness and wellness program consistent with NFPA 1583 and/or the Fire Service Joint Labor Management Wellness/Fitness Initiative. 4. Negotiate with the local union to phase in an annual physical ability test. 5. Ensure that fire fighters are cleared for duty by a physician familiar with the consensus guidelines published by the NFPA 1582 and knowledgeable about the physical demands of fire fighting.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Health Care Facilities Workforce And Services Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cardiovascular-disease Cardiovascular-function Cardiovascular-system Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Emergency-responders Fire-fighters Heart Medical-examinations Medical-monitoring Medical-screening OSHA Region 5 Physical-fitness Physical-stress

  More +
• 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/NIOSHFFFACEF200421
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Illinois ; OSHA Region 5
• 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:20027421
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2005-107545
• 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 F2004-21, 2005 Mar ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2004/04/18
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:d9aeba80546ba4767baebaa049e9ce90b7dca711550e05e0f540e71d8c2287fea46e235b1a20c3c64f9f8478af1f5f96920edf7843da84cdf0315057ce28583d
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163731/cdc_163731_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 522.31 KB ]