The Validity and Reliability of a Treadmill Test for Structural Firefighter Applicants.

Objective: This 2-part study evaluated validity and reliability of a treadmill test for structural firefighters.

Methods: Wearing fire protective ensemble, 260 participants walked at 1.56 m·s-1, completing a 5-min warm-up, an 8-min stage at a 5.71° incline, then graded stages to exhaustion. In Part 2, 21 participants completed the test on 3 separate days under standardized conditions.

Results: Average (±SD) oxygen uptake () during minutes 1-13 was similar to reported values for simulated fire-rescue work. During the 13th min, was consistent with recommendations for firefighters. in Part 2, exercise duration increased between trials 1 and 2 before stabilizing but was consistent.

Conclusions: Congruence with reported during simulated firefighting and recommendations for confirmed validity. Acceptable test-retest reliability was demonstrated. We conclude that the test is valid and reliable for evaluating cardiorespiratory endurance for firefighting.