The health of women in the US fire service

Abstract

BackgroundDespite statements from national fire service organizations, including the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), promoting a diverse work force related to gender within the fire service, rates of women firefighters remain very low. Thus, research into why this extensive gender disparity continues is a high priority. Recent years have seen a number of large scale studies on firefighter health and health risk behaviors however, none have focused on the health of women firefighters and nearly all have eliminated women from the sample due to small sample size. Data from the present report is drawn from all females in a large, randomly selected cohort of firefighters in an epidemiological study designed to assess health outcomes and health risk behaviors identified as most important to the fire service.MethodsData reported for the present study were collected as baseline data for the Firefighter Injury and Risk Evaluation (FIRE) Study, a longitudinal cohort study examining risk factors for injury in both career and volunteer firefighters in the IAFC Missouri Valley Region. Of the departments assessed, only 8 career and 6 volunteer departments had any women firefighters. All the women solicited for participation chose to enroll in the study. The number of women ranged from 1 to 7 in career departments and 1 to 6 in volunteer departments.ResultsWhere possible, comparisons are made between female firefighters and published data on male firefighters as well as comparisons between female firefighters and military members. Compared to male firefighters, females had more favorable body composition among both career and volunteer firefighters. Tobacco use rates were generally higher among females than males and rates among female firefighters were similar to the rates of female military members. While rates of alcohol use were higher than the general population, only one of the participants evidenced responses in the range of concern on the CAGE screening.ConclusionsIn general, the findings offer an interesting glimpse of the health of women in the fire service as a generally healthy occupational workforce with some unique health risk behavior challenges. They also highlight some of the similarities and differences between male and female firefighters and bolster the argument for studying female firefighters as a unique occupational sub-population.

Mortality and cancer incidence among female Australian firefighters

“…In the general Australian population, the smoking rates were 13.1% for women and 18.2% for men 16. A US firefighters’ study also showed that female career full-time firefighters smoked more than women in the general population,17 and found a non-statistically significant elevated rate of lung cancer among women who had turned out to incidents but the rate was not elevated among those who had not turned out. No other studies of cancer among female volunteer firefighters have been identified in the literature.…”

Alcohol Use and Problem Drinking among Women Firefighters

“…Finally, firefighters who screened positive for problem drinking were significantly less likely to say they would recommend a career in the fire service to other women. Given the difficulties recruiting women into this occupation, creating a more inclusive Fire Service will likely require interventions targeting factors associated with excessive drinking (Jahnke, Poston, Haddock, et al, 2012). …”

“…These techniques are widely accepted for recruitment among underserved, hidden populations (Sadler, Lee, Lim, & Fullerton, 2010). The primary outlets used for recruitment included: 1) contacting participants from previous studies (Jahnke, Poston, Haddock, et al, 2012); 2) through iWomen membership, the only national organization representing women in the fire service; 3) email distribution through the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF), the national labor union for firefighters; 4) through the Center for Fire, Rescue & EMS Health Research’s email distribution list to previously collaborating fire service personnel; and 5) a posting on the “Secret List,” which is a popular email listserv in the fire service that is distributed to thousands of firefighters worldwide. Secondary recruitment included requesting any women completing the survey to share the solicitation with their women colleagues.…”

“…For example, personnel are exposed to a wide range of occupational hazards including heat stress, dehydration, smoke-borne toxins, medical hazards, dangerous environments, and strenuous physical challenges. As a result, firefighters have a high prevalence of occupationally-related medical and mental health disorders compared to the general public (Haddock et al, 2012; Haddock, Jitnarin, Poston, Tuley, & Jahnke, 2011; Jahnke, Poston, Haddock, & Jitnarin, 2013a; Jahnke, Poston, Haddock, et al, 2012; Jahnke, Poston, Jitnarin, & Haddock, 2012; Jitnarin, Haddock, Poston, & Jahnke, 2013; Poston, Haddock, et al, 2011; Poston, Jitnarin, Haddock, Jahnke, & Tuley, 2011; Soteriades et al, 2005; Soteriades, Smith, Tsismenakis, Baur, & Kales, 2011). …”

“…Unfortunately, aside from one descriptive study based on 31 women firefighters (Jahnke, Poston, Haddock, et al, 2012), there are no published data to determine whether the high rates of heavy and problem drinking found among males generalize to women firefighters. It is critical to determine whether women firefighters also are at risk for unhealthy levels of alcohol consumption due to its deleterious social and health effects (Bates, Bowden, & Barry, 2002; Booth & Feng, 2002; Bouchery, Harwood, Sacks, Simon, & Brewer, 2011; Breslow, Guenther, Juan, & Graubard, 2010; Caetano, 1987; Caetano & Cunradi, 2002; Caetano, Schafer, Fals-Stewart, O'Farrell, & Miller, 2003; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2015; Chartier & Caetano, 2012; Cunradi, Caetano, Clark, & Schafer, 1999; Ehlers, Gilder, Criado, & Caetano, 2010; Galvan & Caetano, 2003; Greenfield, 1998; Jahnke et al, 2014; Kaplan et al, 2014; Klingemann, 2001) and association with occupationally-related risk factors, such as exposure to trauma (Jahnke, Poston, Haddock, & Murphy, 2016).…”