Fatality Assessment and Control Evaluation (FACE) Report: Fire Fighter Suffers Sudden Cardiac Death While Working at a Grass Fire - Mississippi, FACE-F2014-11

摘要

On February 1, 2014, a 57-year-old male volunteer fire fighter ('FF') spotted a grass fire threatening a local residence and nearby barn. After notifying dispatch, he assisted the local fire department in extinguishing the fire. He pulled a 1 1/2-inch hoseline to the fire in two locations and to the top of the engine's hosebed. While atop the engine hosebed, the FF was found unresponsive and not breathing (1341 hours). The incident commander of the responding fire department notified dispatch, then began cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). The FF was placed into the bed of a pickup truck and driven to the ambulance station with CPR administered en route. Upon arrival, the ambulance paramedics began advanced life support including cardiac monitoring with defibrillations, intravenous cardiac resuscitation medications, and intubation. The ambulance transported the FF to the hospital's emergency department (ED) where advanced life support continued an additional 12 minutes without a change in the FF's clinical status. At 1424 hours the attending physician pronounced the FF dead, and resuscitation efforts were discontinued. The death certificate, completed by the county coroner, listed 'sudden cardiac death due to stress/overexertion at fire scene due to intentionally set fire due to hypertensive heart disease' as the cause of death. No autopsy was performed. Blood tests for carboxyhemoglobin were negative, suggesting the FF had minimal exposure to the carbon monoxide in fire smoke. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) investigators concluded that assisting with fire suppression activities probably triggered either a heart attack or a cardiac arrhythmia resulting in sudden cardiac death.