Occupational health and safety

Fireman workers are exposed to many hazards that can adversely affect their health
and well-being. Long hours, physically demanding tasks, violence, and exposures to fire and
harmful chemicals are examples of hazards that put these workers at risk for illness and
injury.
Cardiovascular disease
Firefighting has been associated with poor cardiovascular outcomes. In the United
States, the most common cause of on-duty fatalities for firefighters is sudden cardiac death. In
addition to personal factors that may predispose an individual to coronary artery disease or
other cardiovascular diseases, occupational exposures can significantly increase a firefighter's
risk. For instance, carbon monoxide, present in nearly all fire environments, and hydrogen
cyanide, formed during the combustion of paper, cotton, plastics, and other substances
containing carbon and nitrogen, interfere with the transport of oxygen in the body. Hypoxia
can then lead to heart injury. In addition, chronic exposure to particulate matter in smoke is
associated with atherosclerosis. Noise exposures may contribute to hypertension and possibly
ischemic heart disease. Other factors associated with firefighting, such as stress, heat stress,
and heavy physical exertion, also increase the risk of cardiovascular events.
Heat stress
Firefighters wearing special equipment are protected but heat injury is still a major
issue for firefighters as they wear insulated clothing and can not shed the heat generated from
physical exertion. Early detection of heat issues is critical to stop dehydration and heat stress
becoming fatal. Heat stress affects cognitive function. Combined with operating in dangerous
environment makes heat stress and dehydration a critical issue. Firefighter physiological
status monitoring is showing promise in alerting commanders to the status of their people on
the fire ground. Devices such as PASS device alert 1020 seconds after a firefighter has
stopped moving in a structure. Physiological status monitors measure a firefighter's vital sign
status, fatigue and exertion levels and transmit this information over their voice radio. This
technology allows a degree of early warning to physiological stress. These devices are similar
to technology developed for Future Force Warrior and give a measure of exertion and fatigue.
They also tell the people outside a building when they have stopped moving or fallen. This
allows a Fire Chief to call in additional engines before the crew get exhausted and also gives
an early warning to firemen before they run out, at air, as they may not be able to make voice
calls over their radio. Current OSHA tables exist for heat injury and the allowable amount of
work in a given environment based on temperature, humidity and solar loading.
Structural collapses
Another leading cause of death during fire fighting is structural collapse of a burning
building (e.g. a wall, floor, ceiling, roof, or truss system). Structural collapse, which often
occurs without warning, may crush or trap firefighters inside the structure. To avoid loss of
life, all on-duty firefighters should maintain two ways of communication with the incident

commander and be equipped with a Personal Alert Safety System device on all fire scenes and
maintain radio communication on all incidents. Francis Brannigan was the founder and
greatest contributor to this element of firefighter safety. He (October 13, 1918 January 10,
2006) was writer and teacher in the field of fire protection engineering and created a fire
school there to train Navy crews in mass fire fighting tactics. Brannigan brought together the
technical and fire communities to create an integrated approach to firefighter safety. He made
a strong and conscious effort in all of his writing to use plain language to explain technical
concepts, in order to make it more accessible.

Communication
The expedient and accurate handling of fire alarms or calls are significant factors in
the successful outcome of any incident. Fire department communications play a critical role in
that successful outcome. The department of communications include the methods by which
the public can notify the communications center of an emergency, the methods by which the
center can notify the proper fire fighting forces, and the methods by which information is
exchanged at the scene. One method is to use a megaphone to communicate.
A telecommunicator (often referred to as a dispatcher) has a role different but just as
important as other emergency personnel. The telecommunicator must process calls from
unknown and unseen individuals, usually calling under stressful conditions. He/she must be
able to obtain complete, reliable information from the caller and prioritize requests for
assistance. It is the dispatcher's responsibility to bring order to chaos.
While some fire departments are large enough to utilize their own telecommunication
dispatcher, most rural and small areas rely on a central dispatcher to provide handling of fire,
rescue and police services.
Firefighters are trained to use communications equipment to receive alarms, give and
receive commands, request assistance, and report on conditions. Since firefighters from
different agencies routinely provide mutual aid to each other, and routinely operate at
incidents where other emergency services are present, it is essential to have structures in place
to establish a unified chain of command, and share information between agencies.
All radio communication in the United States is under authorization from the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC); as such, fire departments that operate radio equipment
must have radio licenses from the FCC.
Ten codes were popular in the early days of radio equipment because of poor
transmission and reception. Advances in modern radio technology have reduced the need for
ten-codes and many departments have converted to simple English.

List of terms:

coronary artery disease/ ischemic heart disease- is the most common type of heart
disease and cause of heart attacks. The disease is caused by plaque building up along
the inner walls of the arteries of the heart, which narrows the arteries and reduces
blood flow to the heart.

hydrogen cyanide- sometimes called prussic acid, is an inorganic compound. It is

a colorless, extremely poisonous liquid that boils slightly above room temperature, at
25.6 C.

Hypoxia- is a condition in which the body or a region of the body is deprived of

adequate oxygen supply. Hypoxia may be classified as either generalized, affecting
the whole body, or local, affecting a region of the body.

Atherosclerosis- is a vascular disease in which an artery wall thickens as a result of

invasion and accumulation of white blood cells.

Hypertension- or high blood pressure is a chronical medical condition in which the

blood pressure in the arteries is elevated.

PASS device- (Personal Alert Safety System) also known as a distress signal
unit or ADSU(Automatic Distress Signal Unit), is a personal safety device used
primarily by firefighters entering a hazardous environment such as a burning building,
which sounds a loud audible alert to notify others in the area that the firefighter is in
distress.

OSHA- Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) is an agency of

the United States. OSHA's mission is to "assure safe and healthful working conditions
for working men and women by setting and enforcing standards and by providing
training, outreach, education and assistance".

Megaphone- is a portable, usually hand-held, cone-shaped, acoustic horn used

to amplify a persons voice or other sounds and direct it in a given direction.
Bibliography:
www.wikipedia.org