Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report: Lieutenant Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death at Motor Vehicle Crash in Ohio, FACE-F2013-23.

摘要

On July 1, 2012, a 24-year-old male volunteer lieutenant (LT) was dispatched to a motor vehicle crash at 0208 hours. The LT responded to the fire station where he rode in the fire department's (FD) rescue vehicle to the crash scene. The crashed vehicle had struck a utility pole and slid down an embankment. As crew members were extracting the driver, the LT climbed a 10-foot embankment to retrieve a backboard from the ambulance when he collapsed. He was treated by the on-scene ambulance paramedic and transported to the hospital's emergency department (ED). En route to the ED, the LT suffered cardiac arrest; cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was begun. Despite CPR and advanced life support (ALS) by ED personnel, the LT died. The death certificate, completed by the deputy county coroner, and the autopsy, completed by the forensic pathologist, listed 'cardiopulmonary arrest due to dilated cardiomyopathy' as the cause of death. Prior to this incident the LT was asymptomatic and not known to have any cardiac problems. Given the LT's underlying dilated cardiomyopathy, the physical stress of responding to the call and climbing the embankment may have triggered a fatal heart arrhythmia. The following recommendations would not have prevented the LT's death.