The Heat Stress Of Firefighters

Much like the firefighters in 911 (figure 1); many people would say that a firefighter’s health is very important. Life is a precious thing and before we sit around and let controlled burnings take control, we should protect the lives of those who protect us.

Some would say that one is better than the other and some the opposite. In this paper, we will learn the importance of both and the difference in both. A firefighter is a firefighter no matter what his/her salary, or their level of training.

With that being said, society has raised its standards on what it thinks that a fire service member’s behavior should look like, and if we don’t meet those standards, we can be

Many scientists believe that the reasons may lie in the combination of the extreme heat and the physical stress involved.Dr. Helene Wilson of the British Heart Foundation theorizes that the toxins released during fires and inhaling smoke play contributing roles in firefighter mortality. The Foundation has commenced a study to determine why heart attacks are so prevalent while fighting a fire and what measures can be deployed to improve health outcomes for firefighters. Researchers hope to better understand how fire stresses the body and how to protect the health of firefighters. Initial research findings indicate that small changes such as drinking water more frequently may reduce risk.Sadly, all of these stressors and health challenges have led to other negative outcomes, including an increased rate of suicide among firefighters than experienced in past generations. The National Firefighters Foundation reports that in any year, a department is four times more likely to experience the suicide death of a member than a line-of-duty death.Stress, negative health changes, the physical rigors of the job, and mental health challenges are taking their toll on our nation’s bravest.The brotherhood (and sisterhood) of firefighting is unique, with a strength that is often not available in many other

According the agency of the Department of Homeland Security states that motor vehicles crashes are the leading cause of death for an on-line duty fireman. Other significant causes of death are: caught/trapped (10%), fall (5%), collapse (3%), and other (7%). Intentions of firefighters are to make the community safe as possible, but we the people need to think twice before we do anything else when dealing with fire. The other things that it 's a national problem for firefighters is not wearing their seat belts when driving out to an emergency. They are so focused on saving our lives when first it 's supposed to be the opposite, their safety is first, but firemen put their lives at risk.

The most common source of heat for the purpose of firefighting comes from chemical reactions. When something burns, it is the result of a chemical reaction where heat is being released. Pyrolysis is the "decomposition or transformation of a compound caused by heat."(Coleman, et al. 81)

The article "Beating the Heat" by Stephanie Warren Drimmer, is about two high school students who saw the suits that fire fighters wear wore fail, and as a result, 19 firefighters died. They decided to research and improve how firefighting suits are made. They discovered that designs for firefighting suits are nearly 40 years old. They discovered that the material the suits were made of would disintegrate at only half the temperature of a rapid-moving fire.

For years if not decades, firefighters have responded to a reported structure fire that turned out to be a fully involved single room. This fire scenario requires a core set of fire tactics and skills to control and extinguished the fire, but is it this simple? Perhaps twenty years it may have been, but new dangers are lurking in every scenario and may have detrimental outcomes for unsuspecting and unaware firefighters and victims. The National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) agency along with the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) have been conducting research to understand fire behavior and fire dynamics. This research is providing firefighters with new information about how and why

Many fire service personnel that have fifteen or twenty years of service have seem many things change over time. One radical change is the way fires consume structures today when compared structures years ago, these fires have be classified as modern and legacy fires. When responding to a modern construction fire versus a legacy fire, does it change how we fight these fires? Well the answer to that is simply yes! Modern construction physiognomies have greatly changed to accommodate the comfort of the homeowner, which is not firefighter friendly. In modern construction home the floor plans are larger in size to give more living space. As the living spaces grow the footprint of the residence increases as well. As the word modern leads to occupants thinking comfort, when truthfully causes disadvantageous consequences for the fire service with open geometrics, new construction materials, and also include an increased fire load. All these construction advantages only lead to faster propagation of the fire, as well decreases the amount of time for a flashover to occur. Modern construction has led to hasty changes in fire dynamics, which at the same time decreases the amount of time to escape to safety. The structural collapse time is greater since the amount of time as been lessened

In the article, “Undulation Training for Development of Hierarchical Fitness and Improved Firefighter Job Performance,” a research was conducted when a critical problem emerged from the extraordinary job risks of firefighting. In this article, it was recognized that firefighting was a high risk occupation in which many activities were life threatening. Yearly incidences brought on from these life-threatening activities and conditions included cardiovascular disease from the inhalation of smoke as well as musculoskeletal injuries from the physical demands of the job. The problem was lying in the fact most fire departments were failing to adequately prepare the firefighters in terms of health and physical fitness to take on the

If I was in command on a steel building fire in my area and the crews inside advised me that it was getting to hot in there, even with crews outside trying to cool the steel. A steel building holds more heat than wood frame construction. Wood burns through faster than steel to collapse a building. Temperature above 1,000 degrees F, the steel tends to soften and fail in a fire. In recent test by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) E-119 Fireproofing steel columns, the columns fails when a temperature of 1,200 degrees F is exceeded at one point or 1,000 degrees F is exceeded on the average in the column. That’s why I would pull all my firefighters out and

The fire service, particularly over the last two decades has taken a deeper interest in firefighter safety and accident prevention. This report examines the smoothbore and fog fire attack nozzles as they relate to firefighter safety. Although these two nozzles are not new to the trade, misapplication, and a lack of understanding past scientific studies by individuals, departments, and fire training centers continues to put firefighters at risk for injury or death. This report concludes that the benefits of the smooth bore nozzle make it a safer, and more

Wagner, S. L., Mcfee, J. A., & Martin, C. A. (2010). Mental health implications of fire service membership. Traumatology, 16(2), 26-32. doi:10.1177/1534765610362803

Firefighters: Their job is to react when exhales are activated in an effort to control and extinguish their feelings. This is accomplished any numbers of way through alcohol or drug use, gambling, shopping, binge eating. We believe the firefighters are keeping us safe somehow however they are actuality obscuring our heart within us.

A recent study conducted by Kuehl, Sakarya, & Elliot et al. (2012) discussed the relationship between lifestyle variables among firefighters and filing a worker’s compensation claim due to firefighter injury. The study indicated that firefighters are at high risk of increased musculoskeletal injuries and illnesses compared to other individuals in a different job. For example, a large number of firefighters died and were injured while protecting the public, fighting fire, responding to hazardous materials, and training. The leading causes are occupational injuries that cause disability or early retirement. The major reason for increased occupational injuries among firefighters is raising prevalence of inactivity, hypertension, lower fitness level, and obesity. These factors are the major reasons for the increased number of injuries and deaths among firefighters. Lack of fitness and unclear vision to address emergency situations contributed to increasing fatalities. The total rate of firefighters who suffered from obesity exposed to injuries was three times higher than normal