3/26/2007 - Heart disease the leading cause of death for firefighters March 25, 2007—When a firefighter is on the job, the risk of burns and smoke inhalation is very real. But the biggest threat to an on-duty firefighter's health may actually be coronary heart disease (CHD), a new study suggests. The Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) study, published in The New England Journal of Medicine, found that CHD is the leading cause of death for on-duty firefighters in the U.S. "We found conclusive evidence that the risk of CHD death is significantly higher during fire suppression, responding to alarms, returning from alarms and during certain physical training activities," said Stefanos Kales, lead author of the study and assistant professor in the Department of Environmental Health at the HSPH. For the study, researchers looked at data on all U.S. on-duty firefighter deaths between 1994 and 2004 (except deaths during the September 11 terrorist attacks). They also estimated the average amount of time firefighters spent on specific job duties each year. The results showed that out of 1,144 on-duty deaths, 449 were due to CHD. Of those deaths, 144 happened while fighting a fire. Firefighters spent between 1 and 5 percent of their time fighting fires, but that job duty represented 32 percent of deaths from coronary incidents, according to the study. The risk of CHD events also increased with other emergency duties, such as responding to and returning from alarms. “[The study] provides the strongest evidence to date that firefighters’ work activities can trigger CHD events,” said Kales. The authors noted that strenuous exertion may aggravate underlying heart disease in firefighters. The results should reinforce efforts to improve fitness and health in the firefighting community, researchers said. Back