Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report: Career Lieutenant Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death at His Home After Finishing His Shift in Tennessee

摘要

On March 9, 2006, a 42-year-old male career Lieutenant (LT) arrived for duty at his station around 0700 hours. Throughout his shift, he performed normal station training and duties and responded to three calls. The first call (0936 hours) was a non-emergency arcing power line, the second call (1038 hours) was a residential stove top fire, and the third call (2028 hours) was assisting ambulance personnel in transporting an agitated patient down stairs to the ambulance. The LT returned to his home on the morning of March 10th. He exercised both in the morning and afternoon, and had dinner and visited friends that evening. He returned home to his wife at 2100 hours. He was last seen alive, sleeping on his couch around 2200 hours. At 0900 hours the following morning, his wife found him unresponsive on the same couch. He had rigid muscle tone and was cold to the touch. She called the police; upon arrival they called the Medical Examiner's office to transport the LT to the morgue. The death certificate (completed by the Medical Examiner) listed 'hypertensive heart disease' as the immediate cause of death. The NIOSH investigator concluded the LT's hypertension and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) precipitated his sudden cardiac death (SCD). NIOSH investigators offer the following recommendation to prevent similar incidents and/or to address general safety and health issues: Collaborate with the local union to develop a wellness/fitness program consistent with National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1583, Standard on Health-Related Fitness Programs for Fire Fighters and/or the Fire Service Joint Labor Management Wellness/Fitness Initiative.