INTRODUCTION Firefighters perform strenuous muscular work while wearing heavy, encapsulating personal protective equipment in high temperature environments, under chaotic and emotionally stressful conditions. These factors can precipitate sudden cardiac events in firefighters with underlying cardiovascular disease. The purpose of this pilot study was to deploy and explore the feasibility of the...

Obesity is a significant problem affecting United States (US) firefighters. While body mass index (BMI) is widely used to diagnose obesity, its use for this occupational group has raised concerns about validity. We examined rates and types of misclassification of BMI-based obesity status compared to body fat percentage (BF%) and waist circumference (WC). Male career firefighters (N = 994) from ...

OBJECTIVE We examined the relationship between chronotype and sleep disturbance, and assessed various factors that might be associated with sleep disturbance in Korean firefighters. METHODS Self-administered questionnaires assessing chronotype, depression, alcohol use, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), stress response and sleep quality were examined in 515 firefighters. RESULTS Evening ...

While a considerable amount of research is done in the field of moral psychology, to our best knowledge, no systematic study of moral judgments made by professional groups who make moral decisions as part of their occupational duties exists (e.g. firefighters, medical doctors, midwives, police officers). By their training and practice, such professionals are expected to exhibit differences in m...

Repeated exposure to traumatic experiences may put professional firefighters at increased risk of developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). To date, however, the rate of PTSD symptoms, unmet need for mental health treatment, and barriers to treatment have only been investigated in subsamples rather than the total population of firefighters. We conducted a nationwide, total population-bas...

BACKGROUND Firefighting is a dangerous occupation with a high incidence of low back pain and injury. Abnormal back muscle function and morphology has been linked to low back pain and poor physical performance. The effect of exercise training on back muscle size and symmetry has not been investigated in firefighters. OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of worksite exer...

OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to investigate factors associated with sleep disorders in male firefighters working in a metropolitan city in South Korea. METHODS Self-administered questionnaires including the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, Korean Occupational Stress Scale-Short Form, Psychosocial Well-Being Index-Short Form, Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index, and Beck-Depression Inve...

BACKGROUND Although colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is widely recommended, screening rates remain low. Workplace interventions have the potential to increase rates of screening. AIMS To evaluate the impact of a workplace CRC screening program targeting active duty and retired firefighters. METHODS A letter, a fecal immunochemical test (FIT) kit and a survey were mailed to all active duty ...

Fighting fires and fatigue [2] This PhD began at the Bushfire CRC and was completed in 2016. Firefighters were recruited from across Australia to help gather important data on sleep behaviour during multi-day deployments. The results are important in managing firefighter health and safety, with this research contributing some of the first data about the sleep quantity and quality that firefight...