Fire fighter dies at house fire - New Hampshire.
Van Gelder-C; Bogucki-S
NIOSH 2003 Mar; :1-12
On December 23, 2000, a 43-year-old male fire fighter complained that it was too hot while performing a primary search on the second (fire) floor of a house. After exiting the structure, he briefly leaned against the back of a ladder truck and then collapsed. CPR was initiated immediately, but on-scene and hospital resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful. Atherosclerotic and hypertensive cardiovascular disease and pulmonary emphysema were found on autopsy. The death certificate listed cardiac arrhythmia as the cause of death. 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 comprises (1) decreasing physical stress on fire fighters, (2) identifying and modifying cardiac risk factors in fire fighters, and (3) improving job-related physical fitness. Issues relevant to this Fire Department include the following: 1. Fitness and wellness programs aimed at modification of cardiac risk factors; 2. Implementation of National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1582 Standard on Medical Requirements for Fire Fighters and Information for Physicians; 3. Implementation of NFPA 1500 Standard on Occupational Safety Programs for Fire Departments; and, 4. Implementation of NFPA 1710 Standard on Fire Department Staffing and Deployment.
Region-1; Fire-fighters; Emergency-responders; Cardiovascular-disease; Cardiovascular-system-disorders; Cardiovascular-system-disease; Physical-fitness; Medical-screening; Respiratory-system-disorders; Pulmonary-system-disorders
Field Studies; Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation
NTIS Accession No.
National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health