Evaluation of interventions to reduce firefighter exposures

Authors: Burgess JL, Hoppe-Jones C, Griffin SC, Zhou JJ, Gulotta JJ, Wallentine DD, Moore PK, Valliere EA, Weller SR, Beitel SC, Flahr LM, Littau SR, Dearmon-Moore D, Zhai J, Jung AM, Garavito F, Snyder SA.

OBJECTIVE:

Evaluate the effectiveness of firefighter exposure reduction interventions.

METHODS:

Fireground interventions included use of self-contained breathing apparatus by engineers, entry team wash down, contaminated equipment isolation, and personnel showering and washing of gear upon return to station. Urinary polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon metabolites (PAH-OHs) were measured after structural fire responses before and after intervention implementation. Separately, infrared sauna use following live-fire training was compared to standard postfire care in a randomized trial.

RESULTS:

The fireground interventions significantly reduced mean total urinary postfire PAH-OHs in engineers (-40.4%, 95%CI -63.9%, -2.3%) and firefighters (-36.2%, 95%CI -56.7%, -6.0%) but not captains (-11.3% 95%CI -39.4%, 29.9%). Sauna treatment non-significantly reduced total mean PAH-OHs by -43.5% (95%CI -68.8%, 2.2%).

CONCLUSIONS:

The selected fireground interventions reduced urinary PAH-OHs in engineers and firefighters. Further evaluation of infrared sauna treatment is needed.

This article is a trending article in the field of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. The abstract above was written by the author(s) below. This study was conducted by the author(s) below and published in the journal or book below.

Authors: Burgess JL, Hoppe-Jones C, Griffin SC, Zhou JJ, Gulotta JJ, Wallentine DD, Moore PK, Valliere EA, Weller SR, Beitel SC, Flahr LM, Littau SR, Dearmon-Moore D, Zhai J, Jung AM, Garavito F, Snyder SA.

Journal: Journal of occupational and environmental medicine

Link 1: this article @ Wolters Kluer [Full text]

Link 2: this article @ Pubmed