Citation

Noonan CW, Semmens EO. Occup. Environ. Med. 2020; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

School of Public and Community Health Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, Montana, USA.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2020, BMJ Publishing Group)

DOI

10.1136/oemed-2019-106391

PMID

32295820

Abstract

The 2019 bushfire catastrophe in Australia is only the most recent example of the increasing duration and intensity of wildfire events. In the past decade, the USA experienced 67 000 wildfires annually with an average 7 million acres burned. Over 34 000 US wildland firefighters (WLFFs) are engaged in arduous, high-risk duty, yet several features of this occupation limit our ability to understand the associated short-term and long-term health risks. For example, wildfire suppression activities are spread over multiple state and federal agencies, and most WLFFs are seasonally employed and assigned to multiple locations within a season. The mobile nature of firefighting, oftentimes in difficult terrain, further complicates the potential for observational occupational health studies in this population. In this edition of OEM, West et al1 overcame these challenges with one of the largest to date field studies of WLFF physiological measures with directly observed work activity assessment.

Among the many potential health risks for this population is heat-related illness (HRI). WLFFs may be at risk for HRI because they are engaged in long periods of arduous activity in hot environments with heavy fire-protective clothing. Occurrence of HRI has not been directly assessed in WLFFs, but …

Language: en

Keywords

environment; epidemiology; fire fighters; physical work; physiology