On May 13, 2000, a firework depot exploded in a residential area of the city of Enschede, The Netherlands. Many disaster workers responded, including volunteer firefighters, a group that has received little attention in disaster research. This study examined the presence of health problems in volunteer firefighters who were involved in disaster work, three years after the disaster. Furthermore,...

This study aimed to explore differences in the perceptions of professional and voluntary firefighters regarding extreme wildfire events that occurred Portugal 2017. We collected a sample 185 participants, firefighters, who directly participated suppression activities for Pedrógão Grande October 2017 wildfires Portugal. They were on duty 149 fire stations Central Region A questionnaire was sent ...

Wildfire disasters are potentially traumatic events which directly and indirectly affect both citizens and first responders. The study of posttraumatic growth is scarcely found in the context of firefighters and only few studies have addressed this construct. In the current study, posttraumatic symptoms and posttraumatic growth were investigated among Israeli firefighters (N = 65), approximatel...

Firefighters are exposed to carcinogens such as volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) during fires and from their personal protective equipment (PPE). Recent research has shown that decontamination processes can reduce contamination on both gear and skin. While firefighter cultures that honor dirty gear are changing, little is known about current attitude...

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...