Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report: Forestry Worker Dies While Bulldozing a Fire Line at a Wildland Fire in Alabama

摘要

On July 6, 1998, a 50-year-old male Forestry Worker responded to a 50-acre wildland fire. After working on the scene for approximately 4 hours in 90 degree Fahrenheit heat, bulldozing fire lines around the perimeter of the fire and removing wire that was caught in the dozer tracks, the victim had a witnessed collapse. After cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and advanced life support (ALS) on the scene and at the hospital, the victim died. The death certificate, completed by the Emergency Room physician, listed 'cardiac arrest' as the immediate cause of death and 'respiratory failure' as the underlying cause. An autopsy performed by the State Medical Examiner listed the mechanism of death as an 'acute myocardial infarction' (heart attack).