Background Firefighters, as an occupational group, have one of the highest prevalence rates of obesity. A qualitative study investigated occupational and health behavioral determinants of obesity among firefighters. Methods Four focus groups were conducted with firefighters of every rank as Phase I of the FORWARD study which was designed to assess health behavioral and occupational characterist...

CONTEXT New York City firefighters responding to the World Trade Center (WTC) disaster on September 11, 2001, were exposed to numerous hazards. A medical screening program was conducted 3 weeks after the disaster on a sample of firefighters. OBJECTIVES To determine whether arrival time at the WTC and other exposure variables (including respirator use) were associated with symptoms and changes...

background: metabolic syndrome (metsyn) is closely associated with cardiovascular disease (cvd) particularly in stressful jobs such as firefighting. as studies assessing prevalence of metsyn among firefighters are rare, this study was aimed to assess prevalence of metsyn, insulin resistance and lp(a) level among firefighters in tabriz city. methods: 76 firefighters and 73 official staffs in tab...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to evaluate and compare changes to pulmonary function among firefighters and non-firefighters who were exposed to harmful substances in their work environments. METHODS Firefighters (n = 322) and non-firefighters (n = 107) in Daegu who received a pulmonary function test in 2008 and 2011 as well as a regular health examination were included. Repeated me...

BACKGROUND Despite statements from national fire service organizations, including the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), promoting a diverse work force related to gender within the fire service, rates of women firefighters remain very low. Thus, research into why this extensive gender disparity continues is a high priority....

BACKGROUND Firefighters are frequently exposed to significant concentrations of hazardous materials including heavy metals, aldehydes, hydrogen chloride, dichlorofluoromethane and some particulates. Many of these materials have been implicated in the triggering of several diseases. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of fire smoke exposure on serum heavy metals and possibl...

BACKGROUND Firefighters who are facing fires, are frequently exposed to hazardous materials including carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, hydrogen chloride, benzene, sulphur dioxide, etc. This study aimed to evaluate some relevant serum biochemical and blood hematological changes in activity involved firefighters in comparison to normal subjects. SUBJECTS AND METHODS Two groups of male firefig...

The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of obesity and firefighting activities on coagulation and fibrinolytic activity in relatively young, apparently healthy firefighters. Firefighters performed simulated firefighting activities for 18 minutes in a live-fire training structure. Blood samples were obtained at baseline, before firefighting, and within a few minutes of completing ...

OBJECTIVES The present study sought to identify firefighters' rated physical demands for the most frequently occurring work tasks and to determine if the ratings differed between full-time and part-time firefighters to help create a basis for the development of physical employment tests for firefighters. METHODS An extensive questionnaire was completed by 125 and 68 firefighters in 2000 and 2...

BACKGROUND Firefighters have a high incidence of low back pain and injury. OBJECTIVE To describe lumbar multifidus and abdominal muscle size characteristics in firefighters and to compare these characteristics to normative reference ranges. METHODS In career firefighters without current low back pain (62 males, 7 females), ultrasonography was used to assess: L4 and L5 lumbar multifidus cros...