Physiological, Perceptual and Psychological Responses of Career versus Volunteer Firefighters to Live-fire Training Drills.

A primary objective of the present study was to examine the effect of short-term live-fire firefighting activities on key physiological, perceptual and psychological variables and whether occupational status influenced these responses. It was also of interest to examine whether individual difference factors differentiated the occupational status groups and if so, whether such individual difference factors influenced perceptual and psychological responses to firefighting activities. Male firefighters (n = 52 career, n = 53 volunteer firefighters) participated in 18 min of simulated firefighting activity in a training structure that contained live fires.

Core temperature and heart rate response to repeated bouts of firefighting activities.

Unlabelled: During live-fire firefighting operations and training evolutions, firefighters often consume multiple cylinders of air and continue to wear their personal protective equipment even after fire suppression activities have ceased. However, most studies have only reported core temperature changes during short-term firefighting activities and have shown a very modest increase in core temperature. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to evaluate core temperature and heart rate (HR) during repeated bouts of firefighting activity over ∼3 h.

Effect of live-fire training drills on firefighters' platelet number and function.

Background: The leading cause of line-of-duty death among firefighters is sudden cardiac events. Platelets play a critical role in the formation of an occlusive thrombus during an ischemic event.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to examine the acute effect of firefighting on platelet number and aggregability.