Rhabdomyolysis: What Wildland Firefighters Need to Know

Details

• Corporate Authors:
  Health Hazard Evaluation Program (U.S.) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health.
• Description:
  Rhabdomyolysis : what wildland firefighters need to know.
  
  Rhabdomyolysis (often called rhabdo) is a medical condition resulting from the breakdown of damaged muscle tissue. Due to prolonged physical exertion, wildland firefighters are at increased risk for rhabdomyolysis. If not recognized and treated early, rhabdomyolysis can cause permanent disability and may be fatal. What can increase your risk for rhabdomyolysis?: Over-the-counter medications such as decongestants and antihistamines; Certain antibiotics; Dietary supplements such as creatine; Some weight loss products; Cholesterol lowering drugs known as statins; Excessive caffeine intake.
  
  What are the signs and symptoms of rhabdomyolysis?: Muscle aches or pains out of proportion for the amount of exercise done; Muscle cramping; Tea-colored or cola-colored urine. Rhabdomyolysis is often mistaken for heat stress and dehydration. It can occur in well-conditioned athletes doing their usual workouts, so DO NOT ignore these symptoms.
  
  5/12/2011 – date from document properties
  
  
• Subjects:
  Fire Extinction Firefighters Rhabdomyolysis Wilderness Wildfires
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Guideline
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20051538
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:bf32bce5f057ac5ff769690b8015a7f4ee3d5cba5a46368fe12ab6723a019218bc5cc683c33a721b8877c35433f39432ada2788fe4f2c7b0207c84a51c52db1f
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/20863/cdc_20863_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 2.49 MB ]