Electrocardiographic Responses During Fire Suppression and Recovery Among Experienced Firefighters.
OBJECTIVE
We sought to evaluate the impact of high-intensity exertion and heat stress on electrocardiographic changes during fire suppression and recovery.


METHODS
Healthy firefighters completed a live-fire training evolution. Each firefighter was randomly assigned to complete either two or three intervals of fire suppression tasks followed by a structured recovery. Firefighters were continuously monitored using 12-lead Holter electrocardiogram.


RESULTS
Most firefighters (71.4%) exceeded their maximum heart rate and one third had pathological ST events. Nearly one third of each of these abnormalities persisted throughout recovery period. Longer fire suppression intervals did not affect the incidence of these abnormalities.


CONCLUSIONS
Fire suppression is associated with ST-segment changes among firefighters at low risk for cardiovascular disease. These abnormalities continued into initial recovery even though cooling and rehydration were provided.
From the School of Nursing, Department of Acute & Tertiary Care (Dr Al-Zaiti), Department of Emergency Medicine (Drs Rittenberger, Reis, and Hostler), Department of Medicine, (Dr Reis), University of Pittsburgh, Penn; and Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences (Dr Hostler), SUNY University at Buffalo, NY.
Salah
S
Al-Zaiti
Jon C
JC
Rittenberger
Steven E
SE
Reis
David
D
Hostler
D000328:Adult; D004562:Electrocardiography; D005260:Female; D061388:Firefighters; D005390:Fires; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008991:Monitoring, Physiologic; D055815:Young Adult