Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of over 4700 fluorinated compounds used in industry and consumer products. Studies have highlighted the use of aqueous film-forming foams ...(AFFFs) as an exposure source for firefighters, but little is known about PFAS occurrence inside fire stations, where firefighters spend most of their shifts. In this study, we aimed to characterize PFAS concentrations and sources inside fire stations. We measured 24 PFAS (using LC-MS/MS) and total fluorine (using particle-induced gamma ray emission) in dust from multiple rooms of 15 Massachusetts stations, many of which (60%) no longer use PFAS-containing AFFF at all and the rest of which only use it very rarely. Compared to station living rooms, turnout gear locker rooms had higher dust levels of total fluorine (p < 0.0001) and three PFAS: perfluorohexanoate (PFHxA), perfluoroheptanoate (PFHpA), and perfluorodecanoate (PFDoDA) (p < 0.05). These PFAS were also found on six wipes of station turnout gear. By contrast, the dominant PFAS in living rooms was N-ethyl perfluorooctane sulfonamidoacetic acid (N-MeFOSAA), a precursor to perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) that still persists despite phase-outs almost two decades ago. The Σ
PFAS accounted for less than 2% of fluorine in dust (n = 39), suggesting the potential presence of unknown PFAS. Turnout gear may be an important PFAS source in stations due to intentional additives and/or contamination from firefighting activities.
First responders, including firefighters and emergency medical technicians (EMTs), are under extreme stress from repeated exposure to potentially traumatic events. To optimize treatment for this ...population, it is critical to understand how the various posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptom factors are associated with one another so these relations may be targeted in treatment.
Using a sample of treatment-seeking firefighters/EMTs (N = 342), we conducted a partial correlation network analysis of the eight-factor model. A Bayesian directed acyclic graph (DAG) was used to estimate causal associations between clusters.
Approximately 37 % of the sample screened positive for probable PTSD. Internal re-experiencing and external re-experiencing had the strongest edges. In the DAG, internal re-experiencing was the parent node and was potentially predictive of external re-experiencing, negative affect, dysphoric arousal, and avoidance.
Data were drawn from a treatment-seeking sample that may not generalize to all firefighters/EMTs.
The current findings are consistent with prior research suggesting re-experiencing plays a critical role in developing and maintaining PTSD symptoms. Future research should investigate non-treatment-seeking first responders, as well as EMTs and firefighters as individual populations.
•External and internal re-experiencing were most connected in the network.•Internal re-experiencing was the parent node in the DAG model.•Targeting re-experiencing symptoms may best treat PTSD in first responders.
The goal of this research was to examine the moderating effect of work recovery strategies on the relationship between occupational stress experienced by firefighters and mental health symptoms. Work ...recovery strategies were identified through semistructured interviews with 20 firefighters and a literature search on recovery strategies. A total of 7 work recovery strategies emerged using the 2 methods: work-related talks, stress-related talks, time with coworkers/supervisor, exercise, recreational activities, relaxation, and mastery experiences. Using a prospective study design with a 1-month time interval in a sample of 268 firefighters, experienced occupational stress at Time 1 was positively related to mental health symptoms at Time 2. In addition, with the exception of spending time with coworkers/supervisor, exercise and mastery experiences, recovery strategies at Time 1 were negatively related to mental health symptoms at Time 2. Lastly, all work recovery strategies, except stress-related talks and relaxation, moderated the relationship between experienced occupational stress at Time 1 and mental health symptoms at Time 2. Specifically, the positive relationship between experienced occupational stress and mental health symptoms was stronger when firefighters engaged in low, rather than high, work recovery strategies. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
Objective:
Emergency workers, such as fire-fighters, are routinely exposed to potentially traumatic events. While a number of studies have examined the occurrence of post-traumatic stress disorder, ...the role of multiple traumas on other mental health sequelae, such as depression and alcohol misuse, among emergency workers remains unclear. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and alcohol misuse in a sample of current and retired fire-fighters and examine their relationship with cumulative trauma exposure.
Method:
A cross-sectional survey was completed by current (n = 488) and retired (n = 265) fire-fighters from Fire and Rescue New South Wales, Australia. Demographic and occupational information was collected, including the number of fatal incidents fire-fighters reported attending across years of service. Validated, self-report measures were used to determine probable caseness for post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and heavy drinking.
Results:
Among current fire-fighters, rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were 8% and 5%, respectively, while 4% reported consumption of more than 42 alcoholic drinks per week. Retired fire-fighters reported significantly greater levels of symptomatology, with the prevalence estimates of post-traumatic stress disorder at 18% (p = 0.001), depression at 18% (p < 0.001) and heavy drinking at 7%. There was a significant positive linear relationship between the number of fatal incidents attended and rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and heavy drinking.
Conclusion:
Fire-fighters suffer from high rates of mental disorders, with rates of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and heavy drinking continuing to rise in a linear manner with each additional trauma exposure. The level of psychiatric morbidity among retired fire-fighters appears to be particularly high. Our findings have important implications for the ongoing debates surrounding the detection of mental disorders in high-risk occupations and for policy considerations around the welfare of current and retired emergency workers.
We developed a Reaction Diffusion Convection (RDC) model for forest fire propagation coupled to a visualization platform with several functionalities requested by local firefighters. The dynamical ...model aims to understand the key mechanisms driving fire propagation in the Patagonian region. We'll show in this work the first tests considering artificial landscapes. Synthetic maps were created and used to test our RDC model, analysing step by step the effect of every landscape characteristic on fire propagation. Simulation results were in agreement with the expected fire behavior in the presence of heterogeneous vegetation, wind and slope gradients. The simulator, developed in CUDA C/OpenGL, integrates several layers including topography, weather, and fuel data. It allows to visualize the fire propagation and also to interact with the user in simulation time. The Fire Weather Index (FW1), extensively used in Argentina to support operative preventive measures for forest fires management, was also coupled to our visualization platform. This additional functionality allows the user to visualize on the landscape the fire risks, that are closely related to FW1, for Northwest Patagonian forests in Argentina. Real land coverage, topography and weather maps were used in order to calculate FW1 and fire risk. Those maps were used to feed our simulator to show, in a friendly visual way, the fire risk under different possible scenarios. Keywords: Forest Fire Simulation, Graphic Processing Units, Reaction-Diffusion-Convection Model En este trabajo se presenta un modelo de Reacción-Difusión-Convección (RDC) para la propagación de incendios forestales implementado en un entorno de simulación y visualization. Dicho simulador posee amplias y útiles funcionalidades las cuales han sido planificadas junto a expertos combatientes del fuego de nuestra región. El modelo presentado intenta comprender los mecanismos claves detrás de la propagación del fuego en la región Patagónica argentina. En este trabajo se exponen los primeros resultados del modelo en escenarios artificiales. Se generaron mapas sintéticos que fueron utilizados para probar nuestro modelo RDC, analizando paso a paso el efecto de cada una de las características del paisaje en la propagación del incendio. Los resultados de las simulaciones concuerdan con el comportamiento esperado del fuego en presencia de vegetación heterogénea, gradientes de viento y de pendiente. El simulador, desarrollado en CUDA C/OpenGL, integra capas de información que incluyen topografía, meteorología y datos del combustible. Dicho simulador permite visualizar la propagación del fuego y que el usuario interactúe con el simulador en tiempo de simulación. Además, en dicho simulador se implemento el índice Meteorológico de Peligro de Incendio (FWI: Fire Weather Index). Este índice es muy utilizado en Argentina para dar soporte al manejo y prevención del fuego. El cálculo de este índice en el simulador permite visualizar el peligro o riesgo de incendio para escenarios del noroeste de la Patagonia Argentina. Para la evaluación y uso del Indice Meteorológico de Peligro de Incendio se han utilizado mapas reales de cobertura de vegetación, topografía y meteorología. Dichos mapas se usaron para alimentar el simulador y mostrar en una forma visual amigable, el riesgo de incendio en diversos escenarios posibles. Palabras claves: Modelo de Reacción Difusión Convección, Simulación de Incendios Forestales, Unidades de Procesamiento Gráfico.
We developed a Reaction Diffusion Convection (RDC) model for forest fire propagation coupled to a visualization platform with several functionalities requested by local firefighters. The dynamical ...model aims to understand the key mechanisms driving fire propagation in the Patagonian region. We'll show in this work the first tests considering artificial landscapes. Synthetic maps were created and used to test our RDC model, analysing step by step the effect of every landscape characteristic on fire propagation. Simulation results were in agreement with the expected fire behavior in the presence of heterogeneous vegetation, wind and slope gradients.
Despite decades of efforts, many organizations still have sexist supervisors-those in supervisory positions who define their profession by primarily stereotypically masculine features. As a result of ...their "masculine" professional prototypes, sexist supervisors see their work as a "man's job" in which women cannot succeed. Research suggests that one problem posed by sexist supervisors is that they may pass their biased views on to subordinates who endorse them as leaders. To make this less likely, we test in two experiments (N = 1,879) a strategy to reduce subordinates' endorsement of sexist supervisors. We do this by encouraging subordinates to see themselves as low in perceived professional prototype alignment (PPPA)-the extent to which a subordinate perceives their supervisor to share their beliefs about what it means to be a member of their profession-with sexist supervisors. Specifically, encouraging subordinates' to hold less masculine, more "balanced" professional prototypes, in which they see stereotypically feminine attributes as equally important to the job as stereotypically masculine ones, reduces PPPA with sexist supervisors. Lowering PPPA, in turn, reduces supervisor endorsement, even after accounting for the effects of other established mechanisms of supervisor endorsement. This research sheds new light on the psychology of followership and offers a new way to curb gender bias from the bottom up.
Although various studies found that mindfulness and emotion regulation strategies both could be the predictors of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic growth (PTG), no study to date ...has examined the combined role of dispositional mindfulness and emotion regulation strategies in PTSD and PTG among firefighters.
A cross-sectional study conducted in a sample of 409 Chinese firefighters who reported to have experienced critical incidents during their daily work. Participants completed self-report questionnaires.
Dispositional mindfulness directly and negatively predicted PTSD and positively predicted PTG. Moreover, the proposed model fit the data well χ2/df = 2.362, NFI = 0.973, IFI = 0.984, TLI = 0.974, CFI = 0.984, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.058 (0.040–0.076). Dispositional mindfulness exerted an indirect and negative effect on PTSD via cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression. While dispositional mindfulness showed an indirect and positive effect on PTG through cognitive reappraisal, but not through expressive suppression.
Emotion regulation strategies could mediate the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and posttraumatic outcomes in different ways. These findings highlight the beneficial effects of dispositional mindfulness on firefighters' mental health.
Introduction
The presence of post-traumatic stress disorder
(
PTSD) symptomatology in firefighters is an ever-pressing issue that requires close attention for adequate interventions. The present ...study investigated PTSD and global psychopathology prevalence in a sample of highly risk-exposed Portuguese firefighters, collected after the widespread deadly wildfires in 2017 that ravaged the country. Following an action research approach, the aim of this study was to depict this sample and examine the impact of cumulative adverse experiences on their mental health, which is a phenomenon worth attention.
Method
From an initial sample of 283 firefighters who manifested interest in participating, a total of 139 firefighters from the Coimbra District, of whom 130 unequivocally experienced a potentially traumatic/adverse event as a firefighter, completed BSI (to obtain indicators on psychopathology), QEPAT (an inventory of adverse events possibly experienced as a firefighter), and PCL-5 (a measure of PTSD symptomatology) through an online survey during the year 2018 by the Regional Medical Organization, as proposed and supervised by the local Centre for Prevention and Treatment of Psychological Trauma (CPTTP).
Results
We found a global prevalence of 8.6% of possible PTSD and 14.4% of possible psychopathology (
n
= 139). When considering only firefighters who unequivocally reported a potentially traumatic/adverse event as a firefighter (
n
= 130), 9.2% present possible PTSD, and 13.8% present possible global psychopathology. This sample experienced a mean of 28 adverse events during firefighting work. Linear regressions (
n
= 118) demonstrated that the perceived severity of the most traumatic event reported and the experience of more adverse events were both related to an increase in PTSD symptomatology. Global psychopathology was associated with PCL-5 scores, with an emphasis on paranoid ideation, hostility, depression, anxiety, and phobic anxiety.
Discussion
The severe wildfires of 2017 did not impact PTSD scores in this sample (collected the year after), suggesting that cumulative adverse events are more important than particular episodes. However, the number of reported events was related to PTSD scores. These results can be used to develop interventions that target all firefighters by addressing risk and protective factors. This action research study motivated specialized aid for firefighters involved in this study.
Suicide is a widespread problem that is severely underreported within the fire service. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests firefighters are at increased risk of committing suicide ...compared with their civilian counterparts due to disturbingly higher rates of posttraumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders, which serve as markers for suicide completion. The main problem for mental health professionals in addressing suicide in this population is the substantial lack of empirical research on mental health of firefighters as well as the compounding cultural stigma that exists in addressing mental and behavioral health issues. Additionally, there remains a discrepancy in reported rates of suicide and a lack of information on attempted suicides-related to low reporting rates by family members, fellow firefighters, and departments, as well as no official national tracking database for suicide in firefighters-that further complicates research in this area. This article (a) discusses current research on suicide within the fire service, (b) explores issues and challenges for psychological assessment and intervention for practitioners working with this population, (c) describes specific approaches toward decreasing suicide in firefighters, and (d) suggests policy considerations for fire departments and mental health professionals.
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