Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report: Fire Chief Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death After Physical Fitness Training - Washington.

摘要

On June 27, 2011, a 47-year-old male career fire chief ('the Chief') responded to two medical calls. The first occurred approximately 1 hour prior to his shift, while the other occurred at 0833 hours. He assisted at both calls, but neither patient was transported to the hospital. During the remainder of his shift, the Chief performed apparatus inspection and maintenance and station duty. At 1900 hours, the Chief and the emergency medical service (EMS) officer went to the high school gym to lift weights for about an hour. The Chief returned to his home, and at 2208 hours he commented that he did not feel well and then collapsed. Arriving ambulance personnel described the Chief as having seizure-like movements. As they carried him to the ambulance, the seizure stopped, as did the Chief's pulse and breathing. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced life support were begun as the Chief was transported to the local hospital's emergency department (ED) at 2225 hours, arriving 11 minutes later. Inside the ED, cardiac resuscitation efforts continued for more than 45 minutes, but at 2321 hours the Chief was pronounced dead and resuscitation efforts were stopped. The death certificate, completed by the county chief deputy coroner, and the autopsy report, completed by the pathologist, listed 'cardiac dysrhythmia due to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease and myocardial bridging of anterior descending coronary artery' as the cause of death. Given the Chief's underlying coronary heart disease, NIOSH investigators concluded that the physical stress of performing physical fitness training may have triggered a cardiac arrhythmia and a possible heart attack resulting in his sudden cardiac death.