OBJECTIVE To assess California firefighters' blood concentrations of selected chemicals and compare with a representative US population. METHODS We report laboratory methods and analytic results for cadmium, lead, mercury, and manganese in whole blood and 12 serum perfluorinated chemicals in a sample of 101 Southern California firefighters. RESULTS Firefighters' blood metal concentrations w...

The total of 178 firefighters from the Littoral Mountainous County, the Republic of Croatia, have undergone psychotestings in three groups--99 professionals from city Rijeka, 44 professionals from suburb and 35 volunteers from suburb. The scores of PSS 10 Cohen Stress Perception Scale, COPE questionnaire, STAI X1 anxiety test as condition and STAI X2 anxiety test as trait personality and Beck D...

Every year, more than 38,000 firefighters are injured on the fireground [1]. Among causes of moderate or severe injuries of firefighters, slips, trips, and falls are the most significant cause (28%) of firefighting injuries, followed by overexertion (23%), struck by objects (17%), exposure to detrimental environment (15%), and others (17%) [1]. A 2003 study reported that the average medical cos...

The Firefighter Occupational Exposures (FOX) Project is a study of environmental chemical exposures in firefighters. This study was conducted in partnership with the University of California Irvine’s Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (UCI COEH) and a Southern California fire department. UCI COEH provides study updates to the fire department on a quarterly basis. Firefighters were...

The purpose of this study was to investigate smart features required for the next generation of personal protective equipment (PPE) for firefighters in Australia, Korea, Japan, and the USA. Questionnaire responses were obtained from 167 Australian, 351 Japanese, 413 Korean, and 763 U.S. firefighters (1,611 males and 61 females). Preferences concerning smart features varied among countries, with...

Left ventricular (LV) mass is a strong predictor of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events; increased LV mass is common among US firefighters and plays a major role in firefighter sudden cardiac death. We aim to identify significant predictors of LV mass among firefighters. Cross-sectional study of 400 career male firefighters selected by an enriched randomization strategy. Weighted analyses were ...

Study Objectives Firefighters' schedules include extended shifts and long work weeks which cause sleep deficiency and circadian rhythm disruption. Many firefighters also suffer from undiagnosed sleep disorders, exacerbating fatigue. We tested the hypothesis that a workplace-based Sleep Health Program (SHP) incorporating sleep health education and sleep disorders screening would improve firefigh...

The firefighter problem is a monotone dynamic process in graphs that can be viewed as modeling the use of a limited supply of vaccinations to stop the spread of an epidemic. In more detail, a fire spreads through a graph, from burning vertices to their unprotected neighbors. In every round, a small amount of unburnt vertices can be protected by firefighters. How many firefighters per turn, on a...

BACKGROUND Little is known regarding duty-related risks for sudden cardiac death (SCD) among young firefighters. AIMS To investigate duty-related SCD among US firefighters aged 45 or younger. METHODS We collected data on duty-related SCD from the US Fire Administration (USFA) and the US National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Two physicians independently reviewed each...