Fire Fighter Dies From Progressive Respiratory Failure – Massachusetts

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 September 19, 2002, a 51-year-old male career District Fire Chief (DC) responded to a fire in the basement and attic of a three-story, multiple family dwelling. While acting as incident commander (IC), he was exposed to heavy smoke from the fire. Approximately two weeks later, the DC responded to a hazmat incident as a member of the State Hazardous Materials Response Team. The hazmat incident involved a spill of 2-chlorotoluene, 2-butanone (methylethylketone), and 1,2,4-trimethylbenzene. Two days after the spill (October 4), the DC developed a cough for which he was evaluated by his primary care physician (PCP) the next day. His respiratory condition worsened and, on October 15, he was admitted into the hospital. Despite intensive hospitalized care, his respiratory function continued to deteriorate until October 24, when he died. The autopsy and death certificate listed "progressive respiratory failure and clinical history of adult respiratory distress syndrome due to inhalational injuries" as the immediate cause of death. The following recommendations address some general health and safety issues. These selected recommendations have not been evaluated by NIOSH, but represent published research, or consensus votes of technical committees of the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) or fire service labor/management groups. 1) Ensure that fire fighters exposed to smoke have access to medical evaluations if they develop respiratory or any other unusual symptoms
  
  and 2) Implement the annual medical evaluations mandated by the State in 1996.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Emergencies Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Respiratory Function Tests Respiratory Tract Diseases Safety
• Keywords:
  Emergency-responders Emergency-response Fire-fighters Fire-fighting Medical-screening OSHA Region 1 Pulmonary-function-tests Respiratory-system-disorders
• FACE - Firefighter:
  Cause of Death: Medical ; Non-Cardiac: Respiratory Failure
• Series:
  Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program (FFFIPP)
• Subseries:
  Death in the Line of Duty Report
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHFFFACEF200306
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Massachusetts ; 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:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20023903
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2004-101432
• 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 F2003-06, 2003 Aug ; :1-8
• CAS Registry Number:
  2-Butanone (CAS RN 78-93-3) ; 2-Chlorotoluene (CAS RN 95-49-8) ; 1,2,4-Trimethylbenzene (CAS RN 95-63-6)
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2003
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  2002/09/19
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:7e2059b58a8a2a4e2b4d884af8a37d1e3402d19f03f7b2bfb2ae8547b13b8094a5d2302e821aa130180db93939ba56beaacabbfbe729daf1ef8585c6a6bbe293
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163795/cdc_163795_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 296.36 KB ]