Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of on-duty death among firefighters (45% of on-duty fatalities) and a major cause of morbidity. CVD in the fire service also has adverse public safety implications as well as significant cost impacts on government agencies. Over the last decade, our understanding of CVD among firefighters has significantly improved and provides insight into potential preventive strategies. The physiology of cardiovascular arousal and other changes that occur in association with acute firefighting activities have been well-characterized. However, despite the strenuous nature of emergency duty, firefighters' prevalence of low fitness, obesity, and other CVD risk factors are high. Unique statistical approaches have documented that on-duty CVD events do not occur at random in the fire service. They are more frequent at certain times of day, certain periods of the year, and are overwhelmingly more frequent during strenuous duties compared with nonemergency situations. Moreover, as expected on-duty CVD events occur almost exclusively among susceptible firefighters with underlying CVD. These findings suggest that preventive measures with proven benefits be applied aggressively to firefighters. Furthermore, all fire departments should have entry-level medical evaluations, institute periodic medical and fitness evaluations, and require rigorous return to work evaluations after any significant illness. Finally, on the basis of the overwhelming evidence supporting markedly higher relative risks of on-duty death and disability among firefighters with established coronary heart disease, most firefighters with clinically significant coronary heart disease should be restricted from participating in strenuous emergency duties.

Firefighters' skin may be exposed to chemicals via permeation/penetration of combustion byproducts through or around personal protective equipment (PPE) or from the cross-transfer of contaminants on PPE to the skin. Additionally, volatile contaminants can evaporate from PPE following a response and be inhaled by firefighters. Using polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as respective markers for non-volatile and volatile substances, we investigated the contamination of firefighters' turnout gear and skin following controlled residential fire responses. Participants were grouped into three crews of twelve firefighters. Each crew was deployed to a fire scenario (one per day, four total) and then paired up to complete six fireground job assignments. Wipe sampling of the exterior of the turnout gear was conducted pre- and post-fire. Wipe samples were also collected from a subset of the gear after field decontamination. VOCs off-gassing from gear were also measured pre-fire, post-fire, and post-decon. Wipe sampling of the firefighters' hands and neck was conducted pre- and post-fire. Additional wipes were collected after cleaning neck skin. PAH levels on turnout gear increased after each response and were greatest for gear worn by firefighters assigned to fire attack and to search and rescue activities. Field decontamination using dish soap, water, and scrubbing was able to reduce PAH contamination on turnout jackets by a median of 85%. Off-gassing VOC levels increased post-fire and then decreased 17-36 min later regardless of whether field decontamination was performed. Median post-fire PAH levels on the neck were near or below the limit of detection (< 24 micrograms per square meter [µg/m]) for all positions. For firefighters assigned to attack, search, and outside ventilation, the 75 percentile values on the neck were 152, 71.7, and 39.3 µg/m, respectively. Firefighters assigned to attack and search had higher post-fire median hand contamination (135 and 226 µg/m, respectively) than other positions (< 10.5 µg/m). Cleansing wipes were able to reduce PAH contamination on neck skin by a median of 54%.

Firefighting is a hazardous profession which has claimed on average the lives of 105 US firefighters per year for the past decade. The leading cause of line-of-duty mortality is sudden cardiac death, which accounts for approximately 45% of all firefighter duty-related fatalities. Strenuous physical activity, emotional stress, and environmental pollutants all strain the cardiovascular system, and each can increase the risk of sudden cardiac events in susceptible individuals. Sudden cardiac death is more likely to occur during or shortly after emergency duties such as fire suppression, despite the fact that these duties comprise a relatively small proportion of firefighters' annual duties. Additionally, cardiac events are more likely to occur in firefighters who possess an excess of traditional risk factors for cardiovascular disease along with underlying atherosclerosis and/or structural heart disease. In this review, we propose a theoretical model for the interaction between underlying cardiovascular disease in firefighters and the multifactorial physiological strain of firefighting.