Gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and socioeconomic factors influence how wildland firefighters communicate their work experiences

Ragland, Miranda; Harrell, Jennifer M.; Ripper, Molly; Pearson, Seth; Granberg, Rachel; Verble, Robin M.

doi:10.3389/fcomm.2023.1021914

Cited by 4 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 24 publications

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“…Respondents could opt out of any question and move backwards and forwards among items and modify answers as they wished prior to submission of the survey. We excluded the nine openresponse items from the quantitative analyses presented here (see Ragland et al 2023).…”

Section: Survey Design Distribution and Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational and environmental factors influencing morale of United States federal wildland firefighters

Granberg,

Shen,

Pearson

et al. 2023

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Background Wildland firefighters have physically and psychologically demanding jobs that can result in social, economic and health-related stress. Previous studies have examined the physiological and physical effects of a career in wildland fire, but fewer studies have addressed psychological effects, and to date, none have directly analysed the hiring and work experiences of wildland firefighters. Aims We surveyed work experiences, health and well-being, and morale of wildland firefighters, explored factors that can improve recruitment and retention, and summarised broad patterns. Methods We conducted a voluntary anonymous survey of 708 federal wildland firefighters via an online platform over 2 months in 2022. Key results Respondents reported dissatisfaction with recruitment and hiring processes, low base salaries, poor mental health outcomes, and health and safety concerns. Respondents also reported the high importance of training, performance feedback and work environment to their retention in the field. We found significant effects of wildland firefighting on family status. Conclusions Wildland firefighters report experiencing low morale, financial stress, personal life strain and poor mental health outcomes. Implications These data provide a framework to establish future policy and research priorities and highlight the need for organisational actions and change.

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Section: Survey Design Distribution and Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Occupational and environmental factors influencing morale of United States federal wildland firefighters

Granberg,

Shen,

Pearson

et al. 2023

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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Repeated exposure to eucalyptus wood smoke alters pulmonary gene and metabolic profiles in male Long-Evans rats

Cochran,

Dunigan-Russell,

Hutton

et al. 2024

Toxicological Sciences

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Exposure to wildfire smoke is associated with both acute and chronic cardiopulmonary illnesses, which are of special concern for wildland firefighters who experience repeated exposure to wood smoke. It is necessary to better understand the underlying pathophysiology by which wood smoke exposure increases pulmonary disease burdens in this population. We hypothesize that wood smoke exposure produces pulmonary dysfunction, lung inflammation, and gene expression profiles associated with future pulmonary complications. Male Long-Evans rats were intermittently exposed to smoldering eucalyptus wood smoke at two concentrations, low (11.0 ± 1.89 mg/m3) and high (23.7 ± 0.077 mg/m3), over a 2-week period. Whole body plethysmography was measured intermittently throughout. Lung tissue and lavage fluid were collected 24 hours after the final exposure for transcriptomics and metabolomics. Increasing smoke exposure upregulated neutrophils and select cytokines in the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. In total, 3,446 genes were differentially expressed in the lungs of rats in the high smoke exposure and only one gene in the low smoke exposure (Cd151). Genes altered in the high smoke group reflected changes to the Eukaryotic Initiation Factor 2 (EIF2) stress and oxidative stress responses, which mirrored metabolomics analyses. xMWAS-integrated analysis revealed that smoke exposure significantly altered pathways associated with oxidative stress, lung morphogenesis, and tumor proliferation pathways. These results indicate that intermittent, 2-week exposure to eucalyptus wood smoke leads to transcriptomic and metabolic changes in the lung that may predict future lung disease development. Collectively, these findings provide insight into cellular signaling pathways that may contribute to the chronic pulmonary conditions observed in wildland firefighters.

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Environmental health of wildland firefighters: a scoping review

Held,

Ragland,

Wood

et al. 2024

fire ecol

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Background Wildland firefighters are likely to experience heightened risks to safety, health, and overall well-being as changing climates increase the frequency and intensity of exposure to natural hazards. Working at the intersection of natural resource management and emergency response, wildland firefighters have multidimensional careers that often incorporate elements from disparate fields to accomplish the tasks of suppressing and preventing wildfires. Thus, they have distinctly different job duties than other firefighters (e.g., structural firefighters) and experience environmental health risks that are unique to their work. We conducted a systematic scoping review of scientific literature that addresses wildland firefighter environmental health. Our goal was to identify studies that specifically addressed wildland firefighters (as opposed to firefighters in a broader sense), geographic and demographic trends, sample sizes, patterns in analysis, and common categories of research. Results Most studies have clustered in a few highly developed countries, and in the United States within California and Idaho. Many studies fail to consider the impact that demographic factors may have on their results. The number of studies published annually is increasing and themes are broadening to include social and psychological topics; however, most authors in the field have published an average of < 3 articles. Conclusions We identify three areas that we believe are imminent priorities for researchers and policymakers, including a lack of diversity in study geography and demography, a need for more complex and interactive analyses of exposure, and prioritization of wildland firefighters in research funding and focus.

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Gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity and socioeconomic factors influence how wildland firefighters communicate their work experiences

Cited by 4 publications

References 24 publications

Occupational and environmental factors influencing morale of United States federal wildland firefighters

Occupational and environmental factors influencing morale of United States federal wildland firefighters

Repeated exposure to eucalyptus wood smoke alters pulmonary gene and metabolic profiles in male Long-Evans rats

Environmental health of wildland firefighters: a scoping review

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