Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report: Fire Fighter Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death after Responding to a Water Rescue Call in Pennsylvania

摘要

On July 4, 2006, a 35-year-old male volunteer Fire Fighter (FF) responded to a rescue call for rafters (boaters) who had fallen into a river at approximately 1431 hours. Once on scene, the FF stood by the apparatus while the rafters were rescued upstream and the emergency was declared under control. Units returned to their station, the equipment was readied for the next call, and the FF returned home for the evening. The next morning, July 5th, the FF went to his regular job at a local manufacturing plant. After visiting the infirmary for a skin rash, he went to his work station and suddenly collapsed. Coworkers, including the plant's medical emergency response team responded, called 9-1-1, and began medical treatment including cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). Ambulance personnel began advanced life support treatment and transported the FF to the hospital's emergency department. Despite advanced life support and CPR, the FF died. The death certificate and autopsy (completed by the forensic pathologist) listed 'mitral valve prolapse' as the cause of death. The NIOSH investigator concluded that the FF's underlying mitral valve prolapse and/or left ventricular hypertrophy were responsible for his sudden cardiac death, possibly triggered by the physical stress of responding to the rescue call.