Comparing physical fitness in career vs. voluntary firefighters.

Details

• Personal Author:
  Arnett SW ; Jackson AJ ; Morris CE ; Winchester LJ
• Description:
  PURPOSE: Some firefighting departments are composed of professional firefighters (career firefighters) while some smaller towns cannot fully fund a professional firefighting department and rely on their citizens to volunteer their time and put their lives at risk to perform fire suppression and other related firefighting tasks when those events arise. The purpose of this study was to assess the potential similarities and differences in health and physical fitness profile between career firefighters and volunteer firefighters. METHODS: The research protocol consisted of a health and physical fitness assessment testing the 5 components of health-related fitness (body composition, cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength, muscular endurance, and flexibility) using previously published and accepted protocols. The participant population consisted of career firefighters (CFF) who were all members of the Bowling Green Fire Department in Bowling Green, KY and voluntary firefighters (VFF) were all members of the Warren County Fire Department (Warren County, KY). The total sample size consisted of 139 firefighters comprised of 120 CFF and 19 VF. RESULTS: An independent t-test showed evidence of CFF having a significantly higher value/score for the following variables: height (p = 0.034), VO2 max (p = 0.006), push-ups completed (p = 0.023), and plank time (p < 0.0005). VFF had a significantly higher value for the following variables: fat mass (p = 0.002), body fat percentage (p < 0.0005), and absolute grip strength (p = 0.029). There were not shown to be any significant differences between groups for the following variables: age (p = 0.299), body mass (p = 0.161), fat-free mass (p = 0.292), body mass index (p = 0.056), flexibility (p = 0.097), or relative grip strength (p = 0.934). CONCLUSIONS: In regards to the physical fitness testing of the current sample, the VFF had a significantly worse health and fitness profile across a number of variables compared to the CFF. Despite the financial and commitment status of volunteer firefighting departments, they perform an equally dangerous and important job as firefighters of professional/career firefighting departments and more attention should be directed at developing the fitness and performance of these firefighters as well. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Cardiovascular System Firefighters Occupational Health Safety
• Keywords:
  Fire fighters; Physical fitness; Cardiovascular health; Body measurements; Physical capacity; Physiological measurements
• ISSN:
  0195-9131
• Document Type:
  Text
• Funding:
  Grant
• Genre:
  Abstract or Summary
• Place as Subject:
  Alabama ; Kentucky ; Ohio ; OSHA Region 4 ; OSHA Region 5
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America
• Pages in Document:
  268-269
• Volume:
  51
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20065074
• Citation:
  Med Sci Sports Exerc 2019 Jun; 51(6S):268-269
• Email:
  cemorris@uab.edu
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2019
• Performing Organization:
  University of Cincinnati
• Peer Reviewed:
  False
• Start Date:
  20050701
• Source Full Name:
  Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise
• End Date:
  20260630
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:a3d6067b942ea6a2ac3788d1d52bf5ab4ba63fbc5970ec34c09a68dea99d15e251c356daddcf70e60d2b0ac253a18fb3b09b86164d188f74576a41530574fb97
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/248809/cdc_248809_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 654.31 KB ]