Fire Fighter Dies as a Result of a Cardiac Arrest During a Trench Rescue – Georgia

Details

• Personal Author:
  Sexson, Kristen
• 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 May 14, 1999, a 47-year-old male fire fighter collapsed while assisting with command at a trench rescue. After being on scene for approximately 60 minutes, the fire fighter collapsed. Despite cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced life support (ALS) administered by crew members, ambulance service personnel, and in the hospital's emergency department, the victim died. The death certificate, completed by the victim's personal physician, listed "acute myocardial infarction" (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, as the immediate cause of death. Pertinent autopsy results included the presence of a thrombosis (blood clot) in one of his coronary arteries, coronary atherosclerosis (plaque), and fibrosis consistent with remote (old) heart attacks (MIs). Other agencies have proposed a three-pronged strategy for reducing the risk of on-duty heart attacks and cardiac arrests among fire fighters. This strategy consists of (1) minimizing physical stress on fire fighters
  
  (2) screening to identify and subsequently rehabilitate individuals at higher risk
  
  and (3) encouraging increased individual physical capacity. Issues relevant to this Fire Department include the following: Fire fighters should have annual medical evaluations to determine their medical ability to perform duties without presenting a significant risk to the safety and health of themselves or others. Phase in a mandatory wellness/fitness program for fire fighters to reduce risk factors for cardiovascular disease and improve cardiovascular capacity.
  
  
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Emergency Responders Firefighters Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Cardiovascular-disease Emergency-responders Fire-fighter-training Fire-fighters Fitness-testing OSHA Region 4 Physical-evaluations 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/NIOSHFFFACE99F49
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Field Study ; Report
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 4
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  DSR - Division of Safety Research ; DSHEFS - Division of Surveillance, Hazard Evaluations, and Field Studies
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  1-8
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20000400
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2000-105128
• Citation:
  Morgantown, WV: 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 99-F49, 2000 Mar ; :1-8
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2000
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• NAICS and SIC Codes:
  92 - Public Administration - (NAICS)
• Start Date:
  1999/05/14
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:6546df9b89478115fca4cd60a787a567162d50950d16f095e2fd272fc0a93472ac0f435b6f4583e72f20704f1f100cf650b29f8fb5c010b54fd4539dff563081
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/163950/cdc_163950_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 322.20 KB ]