Bullying in the fire service has long been overlooked, although efforts to understand the phenomenon have increased over the past few decades. Recent research has highlighted high rates of bullying ...in the fire service, regardless of gender and race. Despite established issues of bullying, workplace bullying training has yet to be examined in the fire service. Using qualitative data from interviews with a national sample of firefighters and fire service leaders, this foundational research sought to understand current and future needs related to training on bullying prevention and effective messaging for the fire service. Common themes that emerged from the data include current training opportunities, the effectiveness of training, and components of effective training.
The management of nutrition, food, and health for disaster relief personnel is one of the crucial aspects for carrying out effective rescue activities during large-scale natural disasters, such as a ...big earthquake, flooding, and landslide following heavy rainfall or man-made disasters, such as widespread fire in industrial areas. Rescue workers, such as fire fighters and rescue teams who work on the disaster relief operations, have to work long, hard, and irregular hours that require energy (both intake and expenditure), with especially altered eating patterns. Reliable estimates of the energy expenditure (TEE) for such disaster relief operations have not been fully established. Here, we propose to clarify the energy expenditure for each type of large-scale disaster activity conducted by fire fighters. Thirty fire fighters (survey participants in this research) who participated in the simulation training of large-scale disaster activities wore tri-axial accelerometers and heart rate monitors during training; and, post-training, 28 fire fighters submitted complete activity record tables. An estimation formula combining tri-axial accelerometer and heart rate monitor data was used. Additionally, energy expenditure per hour (excluding resting energy expenditure: REE) (per average body weight of participants) was calculated for 10 types of large-scale disaster response activities. We propose utilization of these data as a reference value for examining the TEE of firefighting and rescue operations in future large-scale disasters.
Canadian Public Safety Personnel (e.g., correctional workers, dispatchers, firefighters, paramedics, and police) are regularly exposed to potentially traumatic events, some of which are highlighted ...as critical incidents warranting additional resources. Unfortunately, available Canadian public safety personnel data measuring associations between potentially traumatic events and mental health remains sparse. The current research quantifies estimates for diverse event exposures within and between several categories of public safety personnel. Participants were 4,441 public safety personnel (31.7% women) in 1 of 6 categories (i.e., dispatchers, correctional workers, firefighters, municipal/provincial police, paramedics, and Royal Canadian Mounted Police). Participants reported exposures to diverse events including sudden violent (93.8%) or accidental deaths (93.7%), serious transportation accidents (93.2%), and physical assaults (90.6%), often 11+ times per event. There were significant relationships between potentially traumatic event exposures and all mental disorders. Sudden violent death and severe human suffering appeared particularly related to mental disorder symptoms, and therein potentially defensible as critical incidents. The current results offer initial evidence that (a) potentially traumatic event exposures are diverse and frequent among diverse Canadian public safety personnel; (b) many different types of exposure can be associated with mental disorders; (c) event exposures are associated with diverse mental disorders, including but not limited to posttraumatic stress disorder, and mental disorder screens would be substantially reduced in the absence of exposures; and (d) population attributable fractions indicated a substantial reduction in positive mental disorder screens (i.e., between 29.0 and 79.5%) if all traumatic event exposures were eliminated among Canadian public safety personnel.
Le personnel de sécurité publique canadien (p. ex. les travailleurs des services correctionnels, les répartiteurs, les ambulanciers et les
policiers) sont régulièrement exposés à des événements au potentiel traumatique, certains desquels sont présentés comme des événements critiques justifiant le recours à des ressources additionnelles. Malheureusement, les données disponibles concernant le personnel de sécurité publique canadien qui permettraient de mesurer les associations entre les événements au potentiel traumatique et la santé mentale se font encore rares. La recherche actuelle quantifie les estimations liées à l'exposition à divers incidents parmi plusieurs catégories de personnel de sécurité publique. Au total, 4 441 membres du personnel de sécurité publique (dont 31,7 % de femmes) de six catégories différentes (répartiteurs, travailleurs des services correctionnels, pompiers, policiers municipaux/provinciaux, ambulanciers et agents de la Gendarmerie royale canadienne) ont pris part à l'étude. Parmi les événements rapportés par les participants, notons des morts violentes subites (93,8 %) ou accidentelles (93,7 %), des accidents de la route graves (93,2 %) et des agressions physiques (90,6 %). Souvent, les participants s'étaient retrouvés confrontés 11 fois ou plus à de tels événements. Des relations déterminantes ont été observées entre l'exposition à des événements traumatisants et l'ensemble des troubles mentaux. Les morts violentes subites et la souffrance humaine aiguë semblaient particulièrement reliées aux symptômes de trouble mental. Il était donc justifié de les considérer comme des incidents critiques. Les résultats actuels permettent d'entrée de jeu de conclure que (a) les expositions à des événements au potentiel traumatique sont diversifiées et fréquentes parmi l'ensemble du personnel de sécurité publique; (b) de nombreux types d'expositions peuvent être associés à divers troubles de santé mentale, notamment le trouble de stress post-traumatique, et les tests de dépistage de troubles mentaux seraient considérablement réduits en l'absence d'exposition; et (d) les fractions étiologiques du risque indiquaient une réduction substantielle des résultats positifs aux tests de dépistage de troubles mentaux (soit entre 29,0 % et 79,5 %) si toutes les expositions à des événements traumatisants étaient éliminées chez le personnel de sécurité publique canadien.
Public Significance Statement
Growing evidence suggests that many first responders and other public safety personnel in Canada may be experiencing substantial difficulties with symptoms of mental health disorders. There have been suggestions that such difficulties may be associated with increased exposure to potentially traumatic events as part of working in public safety, with some people suggesting specific types of events may be particularly problematic. The current results support both suggestions and may be important for informing the national action plan mandated by the Prime Minister of Canada.
Long-term exposure to fine particles less than or equal to2.5 mum in diameter (PM.sub.2.5) has been linked to cancer mortality. However, the effect of wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 exposure on cancer ...mortality risk is unknown. This study evaluates the association between wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 and site-specific cancer mortality in Brazil, from 2010 to 2016. Nationwide cancer death records were collected during 2010-2016 from the Brazilian Mortality Information System. Death records were linked with municipal-level wildfire- and non-wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 concentrations, at a resolution of 2.0° latitude by 2.5° longitude. We applied a variant difference-in-differences approach with quasi-Poisson regression, adjusting for seasonal temperature and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita. Relative risks (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the exposure for specific cancer sites were estimated. Attributable fractions and cancer deaths were also calculated. In total, 1,332,526 adult cancer deaths (age greater than or equal to 20 years), from 5,565 Brazilian municipalities, covering 136 million adults were included. The mean annual wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 concentration was 2.38 mug/m.sup.3, and the annual non-wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 concentration was 8.20 mug/m.sup.3 . The RR for mortality from all cancers was 1.02 (95% CI 1.01-1.03, p < 0.001) per 1-mug/m.sup.3 increase of wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 concentration, which was higher than the RR per 1-mug/m.sup.3 increase of non-wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 (1.01 95% CI 1.00-1.01, p = 0.007, with p for difference = 0.003). Wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 was associated with mortality from cancers of the nasopharynx (1.10 95% CI 1.04-1.16, p = 0.002), esophagus (1.05 95% CI 1.01-1.08, p = 0.012), stomach (1.03 95% CI 1.01-1.06, p = 0.017), colon/rectum (1.08 95% CI 1.05-1.11, p < 0.001), larynx (1.06 95% CI 1.02-1.11, p = 0.003), skin (1.06 95% CI 1.00-1.12, p = 0.003), breast (1.04 95% CI 1.01-1.06, p = 0.007), prostate (1.03 95% CI 1.01-1.06, p = 0.019), and testis (1.10 95% CI 1.03-1.17, p = 0.002). For all cancers combined, the attributable deaths were 37 per 100,000 population and ranged from 18/100,000 in the Northeast Region of Brazil to 71/100,000 in the Central-West Region. Study limitations included a potential lack of assessment of the joint effects of gaseous pollutants, an inability to capture the migration of residents, and an inability to adjust for some potential confounders. Exposure to wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 can increase the risks of cancer mortality for many cancer sites, and the effect for wildfire-related PM.sub.2.5 was higher than for PM.sub.2.5 from non-wildfire sources.
Military personnel are particularly exposed to stressful events, and overexposure to stress is both physically and mentally unhealthy. While stress management programs, such as the Tactics of ...Optimized Potential (TOP) and Heart Coherence (HC) have been implemented, their efficiency remains to be evaluated. The objective of this randomized control trial was to evaluate the effectiveness of the two programs among a young male population of 180 military fire fighter recruits. Based on two psychological, and one physiological measurement, namely heart rate variability (HRV), we found that both TOP and HC programs significantly increased HRV. This is promising as we know that higher HRV is consistent with better health, in most cases. Moreover, the TOP program significantly reduced perceived stress and negative mood, unlike the HC program. Combining these results, we conclude that while both TOP and HC programs influence physiological measurements, only the TOP modifies psychological evaluations. Finally, we distinguished the effects of the programs on two samples characterized by their HRV level. For the low HRV group, both programs tended to increase their HRV level, while for the high HRV group neither program had a significant effect.
Study Objectives: Shift work is known to be detrimental to an individual's health as it disrupts the circadian rhythm and is a risk factor for cancer. It has been reported that elevated fibroblast ...growth factor (FGF)-23, increased serum soluble alpha-klotho, and decreased vitamin D.sub.3 are associated with cancer progression. We studied the relationship between shift work and the levels of FGF-23, alpha-klotho, and vitamin D.sub.3 amongst firefighters, as they work in long shifts outside the traditional daytime schedule. Methods: The study consisted of 450 participants who were firefighters. We measured FGF-23, alpha-klotho, and vitamin D.sub.3 levels in their blood and a set of questionnaires were given to the participants to evaluate their health habits. After determining and adjusting for potential confounding factors, we compared the levels of FGF-23, alpha-klotho, and serum vitamin D.sub.3 by job and shift types. Results: FGF-23 and alpha-klotho levels were significantly higher in shift workers than traditional day workers, and in 3-day cycle shift workers than workers with another shift schedule. When the levels of these substances were compared based on different types of jobs, firefighters had a lower level of vitamin D.sub.3. We conclude that shift work is positively correlated with the levels of FGF-23 and alpha-klotho. Conclusions: Levels of FGF-23 and alpha-klotho were linked to shift work and job types. Although vitamin levels did not differ by shift types, vitamin D.sub.3 levels were lower in firefighters. These findings suggest that high levels of FGF-23 and alpha-klotho are potential risk factors for cancer among firefighters. Key words: Klotho; fibroblast growth factor; vitamin D.sub.3; 25-(OH) vitamin; shift work; firefighter
For many African Americans, getting a public sector job has historically been one of the few paths to the financial stability of the middle class, and in New York City, few such jobs were as ...sought-after as positions in the fire department (FDNY). For over a century, generations of Black New Yorkers have fought to gain access to and equal opportunity within the FDNY. Tracing this struggle for jobs and justice from 1898 to the present, David Goldberg details the ways each generation of firefighters confronted overt and institutionalized racism. An important chapter in the histories of both Black social movements and independent workplace organizing, this book demonstrates how Black firefighters in New York helped to create affirmative action from the "bottom up," while simultaneously revealing how white resistance to these efforts shaped white working-class conservatism and myths of American meritocracy.Full of colorful characters and rousing stories drawn from oral histories, discrimination suits, and the archives of the Vulcan Society (the fraternal society of Black firefighters in New York), this book sheds new light on the impact of Black firefighters in the fight for civil rights.
The use of filters within the breathing system adds a known risk to the patient, against which must be balanced the unknown risk of viral contamination and cross-infection by agents both known and ...unknown.
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