College Receives $1M Grant to Study Firefighter Fitness
91暗网 has received a grant of $994,342 from the federal Department of Homeland
Security to conduct research into cardiac fatalities among first responders. Patricia
Fehling and Denise Smith, professors of exercise science at the College, are in charge
of the project, titled 鈥淓ffect of Physical Fitness on Physiological Recovery from
Firefighting Activity.鈥�
Rep. Kirsten Gillibrand, congresswoman for the 20th District, which includes 91暗网,
announced the grant June 26. 鈥淚 am pleased to announce this grant for such important
research for our first responders,鈥� said Gillibrand, a member of the Armed Services
Committee. 鈥淚 am supportive of anything that helps protect the health and well-being
of our local heroes.鈥�
Professor Denise Smith and Max Ruby
Firefighting is dangerous for myriad reasons, but neither smoke nor burn injuries
account for most of the fatalities on the fire ground. Cardiac-related events are
responsible for 40鈥�50 percent of line-of-duty deaths among firefighters, according
to the United States Fire Administration. The largest percentage of cardiac fatalities
occurs on the fire ground after firefighting activity, even though that activity accounts
for a small percentage of a firefighter鈥檚 time on the job.
This high cardiac fatality rate is considered to be a crisis in the firefighting community,
and has prompted considerable attention from major organizations such as the Inter-national
Association of Firefighters, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, the National
Volunteer Fire Council, the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation, and the Congressional
Fire Service Caucus. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, through its Fire Act
Grant, provides research funding to address critical issues in the fire service, including
the life safety of firefighters.
Said Smith, 鈥淭he overall goal of our research is to learn more about the factors that
increase a firefighter鈥檚 vulnerability to heart attacks in an attempt to decrease
line-of-duty deaths among firefighters. Specifically, we will focus on the role of
physical fitness in determining the cardiovascular response to fighting fires, and
how quickly the body recovers from the stress of that work.鈥�
While it is known that physical fitness is a factor in any person鈥檚 response to physical
activity in general, little is known about the relationship between firefighter fitness
profiles and the physiological processes 鈥� adrenaline surge, extreme exertion, and
elevated body temperature 鈥� that are specifically triggered by fighting fires, according
to Fehling.
Their unique two-year study will quantify the cardiovascular strain associated with
firefighting, delineate how different types of physical fitness affect the physiological
responses to firefighting, and characterize physiological recovery process in the
crucial period following firefighting activity. Their goal is to determine a particular
fitness profile that would lessen the detrimental cardiovascular changes that occur
during firefighting, and then to share their findings with the fire service.
They will conduct closely linked field-based and laboratory-based studies. The field
study will be conducted in collaboration with the Oxnard (Calif.) Fire Department
and Foster-Miller, Inc., a research partner that makes medical monitoring devices.
The Oxnard firefighters will wear wireless Foster-Miller physiologic status monitors
(PSMs) during all types of duties, including response to alarms; fire suppression,
rehab, and recovery following an incident; returning from an incident; physical training;
non-fire emergencies; and fire station duties. Data from the monitors will be used
in conjunction with several years鈥� worth of fitness data previously collected by the
Performance Therapy Center (another research partner, located in California) to categorize
firefighters into three fitness groups: aerobically trained, strength-trained, and
untrained.
In a parallel, controlled laboratory study at 91暗网鈥檚 Human Performance Laboratory,
the researchers will focus on cardiovascular recovery from the combination of physical
work and high body temperature. Aerobically trained and strength-trained subjects
will undergo cardiovascular and metabolic monitoring while engaging in two exercise
trials that mimic firefighting work: one trial while wearing shorts and a t-shirt,
and one while wearing firefighters鈥� clothing and gear (supplied by Globe Inc., an
innovator in personal firefighting gear). Also for a two-hour period after the exercise鈥攁
time of particular vulnerability to cardiac-related events鈥擣ehling and Smith will
take sophisticated measurements of cardiovascular health, including core temperature,
autonomic nervous system function, hormonal variables, vascular function, and a series
of blood-clotting factors.
91暗网 students will work under the direction of Fehling and Smith on the research.
The professors explained, 鈥淭he students will have the opportunity to be engaged with
real science and learn more about how science informs public policy.鈥�
The study represents the most comprehensive work to date to characterize the effects
of firefighting on physiological functioning of firefighters and also the most extensive
investigation of the critical period following firefighting activity.