Assistant Chief Dies After Suffering Aortic Dissection During a Fire Alarm Response – Connecticut

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 December 25, 2003, a 51-year-old male career Assistant Chief (AC) responded to a supervisory (trouble) fire alarm in a five-story building. After walking up four flights of stairs to the fifth floor, he checked the smoke detector that was showing "trouble" on the alarm panel. Since no fire was present, he walked down the same stairs and exited the building. At the same time he complained of feeling "ill." After returning to the fire station, he complained of severe back and chest pains and he was transported to a local hospital's emergency department (ED) for evaluation. Testing revealed a possible aortic aneurysm dissection and he was flown to a regional hospital for surgery. Despite corrective surgery, 6 days post-operatively he suffered another heart attack (myocardial infarction). Despite being successfully resuscitated, he suffered anoxic brain damage. Life support machines were disconnected on December 31, 2003, and he was pronounced dead shortly thereafter. The death certificate, completed by the attending physician, listed "multi-organ system dysfunction" due to "cardiac arrest" as the immediate cause of death with "aortic dissection" as a significant condition. No autopsy was performed. The first three recommendations are preventive 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 fourth recommendation is made in accordance with fire service medical guidelines. The fifth recommendation addresses a potential safety issue related to this particular event. The final recommendation addresses the need to obtain vital medical information regarding this particular event. 1. Perform mandatory annual medical evaluations consistent with NFPA 1582 to determine fire fighters' medical ability to perform duties without presenting a significant risk to the safety and health of themselves or others. 2. Incorporate exercise stress tests into the FD's periodic medical evaluation program. 3. Phase in a mandatory wellness/fitness program for fire fighters to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease and improve cardiovascular capacity. 4. Discontinue routine annual electrocardiograms (EKG) unless medically indicated. 5. Perform an annual physical performance (physical ability) evaluation to ensure fire fighters are physically capable of performing the essential job tasks of structural fire fighting. 6. Perform an autopsy on all on-duty fire fighter fatalities.
  
  
• 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 1 Physical-fitness Physical-stress

  More +
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Medical ; Cardiovascular: Aortic Aneurysm
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF200420
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Connecticut ; OSHA Region 1
• 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:
  1-9
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20025987
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2005-103161
• 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 F2004-20, 2004 Dec ; :1-9
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2005
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2003/12/25
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0da1e0a0a064823ff9a15cf08167466003fe7f744994285484e97d7a2a6a6d6c2f5b7158ea8dc0b49c25b1d3d1b78b37d163835ecb37122e19b58c72f2922d17
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163739/cdc_163739_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 100.95 KB ]