Harvard study finds deaths increase even during less-demanding duties

By Bill Dedman
Investigative reporter
msnbc.com
updated 2:45 p.m. ET, Mon., March. 26, 2007

BOSTON — Firefighters face a much higher risk of death from heart attack when battling a blaze — up to 100 times the normal rate — and are more likely to be struck even when they’re doing less-strenuous tasks, according to a Harvard study to be published Thursday.

Heart attacks — not burns or smoke — have long been known to be the most frequent cause of firefighter deaths on the job. But the Harvard study, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, establishes the strongest link yet between coronary disease and firefighting duties by examining what firefighters were doing when they were stricken.

Looking at firefighter heart attack deaths nationwide over a decade, the researchers found that the risk of heart attack is highest when firefighters are working at a fire scene — with increased odds ranging from 10 to 100 times the normal risk of heart attack. Although firefighters spend only 1 to 5 percent of their time putting out fires, 32 percent of firefighter deaths from heart attacks occur at fire scenes, the study found.

But the chances of a heart attack also are significantly increased when firefighters are responding to an alarm, returning from an alarm, or engaging in physical training, according to the researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health, who studied 449 deaths. (See sidebar: Justice Department denies benefits claims for heart attacks.)

The study does not identify the specific causes of these job-related attacks or whether firefighters have an overall greater risk of dying from heart problems than the rest of the population, but does note the unique hazards of the profession. Not only do firefighters deal with extreme heat and exertion, they also are exposed to toxic substances and psychological stress.

Stress, conditioning seen as factors
The authors hypothesize that the risk of dying from heart disease may increase during fire suppression because of the effects of strenuous exertion on firefighters who have underlying coronary heart disease. Also, many firefighters are overweight and lack adequate physical fitness, which may be contributing risk factors, they said.

“We hope that our study will reinforce efforts in the firefighting community to improve their health and wellness programs,” said Stefanos Kales, the study’s lead author and assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.

A 2005 study by the National Fire Protection Association showed that more than 70 percent of fire departments lacked fitness and health programs. Kales’ team has published previous research documenting a high prevalence of obesity among firefighters. The majority of the nation’s firefighters — about 75 percent — are volunteers.

Kales also said that the researchers are hopeful that “these striking results will make physicians who care for firefighters … more cognizant of the demanding nature of this occupation and get them to be more aggressive with regard to cardiovascular risk reduction.”

by Paul Joseph Watson
taken from Prison Planet.com
Thursday, September 24, 2009

West Virginia Chief wants to make vaccine compulsory, police captain says cops will follow FEMA’s orders if H1N1 outbreak spreads.

Firefighters could be added to the list of those mandated to take the dangerous and untested H1N1 vaccine if Parkersburg Fire Department Chief Eric Chichester gets his way, while health workers in Ontario Canada have been told they will not be forced to take the shot.

Firefighters do not work in hospitals, but because they are trained EMT’s, Chichester believes they should get both the seasonal and H1N1 vaccines.

“I plan on getting vaccinated as soon as it’s available,” Chichester said. “Our guys have the choice of getting the regular flu shot, but I’m looking into ways I can make it mandatory for them to receive the H1N1 vaccine,” he told the News and Sentinel.

Capt. Rick Woodyard with the Wood County Sheriff’s Department is quoted in the same article as saying that police will follow the orders of FEMA if there is a widespread H1N1 outbreak.

According to Woodyard, this would involve “guarding injection sites and helping out the medical community.” Whether “helping” the medical community means helping them to carry out forced injections remains to be seen, but it seems there would be little else for law enforcement to do in such a situation other than compel people to follow orders they wouldn’t normally be inclined to.

While health workers across the U.S., notably in Atlanta and New York, are being forced to take the swine flu vaccine as well as the seasonal flu shot or be fired, officials in Ontario Canada have stated that neither health professionals or the general public will be forced to take the vaccine.

Premier Dalton McGuinty told CBC News that the government cannot, “hold anybody down and inject them with a vaccine when they don’t want it.”

Similarly, schools in the U.S. and Canada are making noises indicating that the swine flu shot will not be forced upon children without parental consent. Asotin County Health District Administrator Joe Lillard signaled that kids in Idaho would not be forced to take the vaccine when he told local news channel KLEW-TV 3, “This is not mandatory, it is a voluntary program,” said Lillard. “I strongly encourage parents to get their children immunized, but that’s a personal choice and if they decide they don’t want to do it, it’s there decision.”

However, all this could change if H1N1 returns as a deadlier strain and begins to claim more fatalities, which is exactly what authorities seem to be preparing for as reports of military roadblocks and martial law training drills continue to pour in from all over the country.

Due to technology’s ever-evolving nature, FireLink member Lee Junkins breaks down the specifics to modern vehicle extrication techniques. Learn what you can do to best assess respond to unique vehicle situations.

Vehicle Extrication: Is It Time to Change Our Training Yet?

Part 1: Airbag Explosions

Though it happens so fast that we do not realize what the explosion is at the time, most all firefighters have seen the results of a normal airbag deployment after a fire. Learn what happens when air bags explode, and how you can best try to determine the possible situation before it occurs.

Part 2: Exploding Hood Struts

Compressed Gas Struts, or Hood struts, can be found in nearly every vehicle nowadays. Because these struts are felled with compressed nitrogen gas, in the wrong situation they can become a metal spear flying directly at your body. Learn how to avoid being injured by these unpredictable parts.

Part 3: Fuel Tanks

Today, auto designers are forced to meet many safety, economic, and environmental standards. These three standards affect most every part of the vehicle including the fuel system. Ruptured fuel tanks, filler tubes, and fuel lines are major factors in post crash fire situations. Learn what you can do to protect yourself against these types of fires.

Part 4: Magnesium Fires

Magnesium is stronger and 1/3 lighter than aluminum and can be molded and machined into most any shape. Today manufacturers are using it for most all the brackets under the dash, transmission housings, wheels, and some as high as 45% of the engine parts. As firefighters you know that magnesium is one metal that will burn and once burning is extremely hard to extinguish, but do you really understand the dangers of a magnesium fire?

The Rescuers’ Response to Hybrid Vehicles

Due to rumors and the natural human fear of the unknown, Lee Junkins attempts to sort out the facts from the fiction when it comes to handling hybrid vehicle fires.