Fire Chief Suffers Sudden Death During Training – Alabama

On May 13, 2004, a 28-year-old male volunteer Fire Chief was attending an emergency medical services (EMS) conference in another state. The fi rst night after arriving at the training city, the Chief and his wife went to bed at 2230 hours. The next morning, at 0900 hours, the Chief’s spouse awoke and found the Chief deceased. She called 911 and an ambulance responded. From the Chief’s clinical condition, it was obvious he had expired some time earlier. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced life support (ALS) treatment were not performed, and he was pronounced dead at the scene by the medical examiner. The death certifi cate and the autopsy, completed by the Chief Medical Examiner, listed “accidental multiple drug intoxication” as the cause of death. The NIOSH investigator’s review supports this conclusion.