title: Employment Standards for Australian Urban Firefighters: Part 2: The Physiological Demands and the Criterion Tasks.
abstract: The physiological demands of 15 essential, physically demanding fire-fighting tasks were investigated to identify criterion tasks for bona fide recruit selection.
  
  
  
  A total of 51 operational firefighters participated in discrete, field-based occupational simulations, with physiological responses measured throughout.
  
  
  
  The most stressful tasks were identified and classified according to dominant fitness attributes and movement patterns. Three movement classes (single-sided load carriage [5 tasks], dragging loads [4 tasks], and overhead pushing and holding objects [2 tasks]) and one mandatory strength task emerged. Seven criterion tasks were identified. Load holding and carriage dominated these movement patterns, yet no task accentuated whole-body endurance.
  
  
  
  Material handling movements from each classification must appear within a physical aptitude (selection) test for it to adequately represent the breadth of tasks performed by Australian urban firefighters.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Human and Applied Physiology, School of Medicine, University of Wollongong, Wollongong, New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: Nigel A S
authors.initials: NA
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Hugh H K
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Fullagar
authors.forename: John A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Sampson
authors.forename: Sean R
authors.initials: SR
authors.lastname: Notley
authors.forename: Simon D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Burley
authors.forename: Daniel S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Herbert
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Groeller
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001315:Australia; D005260:Female; D061388:Firefighters; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010560:Personnel Selection / Q000379:methods / Q000592:standards*; D010809:Physical Fitness / Q000502:physiology*; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D014505:Urban Population