Two NIOSH reports highlight heart attack risk factors

By FireRescue1 staff

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Two NIOSH reports released Tuesday urge background screenings for firefighters with histories of heart disease.

Robert Wayne Duff, a 39-year-old volunteer with the Kuttawa, Ky., Fire Department, and Jeffrey Scott Hollingsworth, 38, deputy chief of the Clement Volunteer Fire Department in North Carolina, each experienced acute pain within hours after responding to calls. Each died later, of cardiac arrest, while hospitalized.

Firefighter Duff died on May 31, 2005. He experienced chest pain after leaving work, having responded to a motor vehicle fire the previous night. He had a history of coronary artery disease, including two angioplasty procedures.

On November 29, 2006, Deputy Chief Hollingsworth went home due to pain in his side after responding to two fires in less than two hours. He was admitted to a hospital for surgery on his kidney, but was found unresponsive later that night by hospital staff. Hollingsworth had a history of hypertension, which had been treated with medications, and was undergoing treatment for an injury suffered while hunting three weeks before his death.

NIOSH’s reports in both cases find that all personnel should undergo pre-placement and annual medical screenings by a physician who is familiar with the physical demands of the firefighting job, per NFPA 1582. This is particularly crucial, the reports state, for those with risk factors or histories of heart disease.

Departments should also plan to phase in wellness and fitness programs to decrease risk of heart failure in all their members.