Preventing Fire Fighter Fatalities Due to Heart Attacks and Other Sudden Cardiovascular Events

Details

• Personal Author:
  Baldwin, Tommy N. ; Hales, Thomas R. ; Jackson, J. Scott
• Description:
  Fire fighters with medical conditions presenting a risk for sudden incapacitation pose a hazard to themselves, their co-workers, and civilians. Medical evaluations can diagnose these medical conditions. The fire service recommends medical evaluations and participation in comprehensive fitness and wellness programs to reduce the number of on-duty CVD fatalities. Findings from the NIOSH Fire Fighter Fatality Investigation and Prevention Program have documented that few fire departments experiencing on-duty cardiac-related deaths of fire fighters have implemented member medical evaluation programs. Few have followed published guidelines regarding medical clearance for return-to-work. In addition, few have developed and encouraged participation in comprehensive fitness and wellness programs. These NIOSH findings were consistent with a subsequent USFA survey that report 76% of fire departments lacked programs to maintain basic fire fighter fitness and health [USFA 2006]. Obvious barriers to implementing these programs are costs, job security issues, and (for voluntary fire departments) maintaining a critical number of members. Additional research is needed to identify factors that can lower these barriers, thereby reducing the number of on-duty fire fighter fatalities due to CVD. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular Diseases Cardiovascular System Firefighters Occupational Health Preventive Medicine Safety
• Keywords:
  Cardiovascular-disease Cardiovascular-function Cardiovascular-function-tests Cardiovascular-system-disease Cardiovascular-system-disorders Fire-fighters Medical-examinations Preventive-medicine
• Series:
  NIOSH Numbered Publications
• DOI:
  https://doi.org/10.26616/NIOSHPUB2007133
• Publisher:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Report
• Place as Subject:
  Ohio ; 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:
  1-26
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20032194
• NTIS Accession Number:
  PB2007-112578
• 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, DHHS (NIOSH) Publication No. 2007-133, 2007 Jun; :1-26
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2007
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services ; Public Safety
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:3c7c3eebf4f06f0cc00588dd25088914bc6359abf318b6703632876880ad481cc57758511c191c80497699b85fa33616d9f7e40eeb4b18aa238c56e7281822f6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/209898/cdc_209898_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.11 MB ]