FACTORS RELATED TO INJURY OF SHIFTWORKING FIRE FIGHTERS IN THE NORTHEASTERN UNITED-STATES

Fire fighters, who provide society with an essential and life-saving s ervice, are subjected to the effects of shiftwork and to the demands ( physical and mental) and dangers of their profession, all of which can contribute to injuries. To identify factors involved in injuries to f ire fighters, the timing, frequency, types, and places of occurrence o f injuries sustained by fire fighters in three different municipal fir e departments were examined. Data was obtained from analysis of Worker s' Compensation forms. The most frequent injuries involved inhalation of hazardous materials and lacerations. Ninety-two percent of the inju ries occurred at the fire scene, and their causes were related to fire fighting duties, such as rescue, extinguishment and overhaul. Althoug h only 54% of fire alarms nationwide occurred from 12:00 to 16:00 and from 18:00 to 24:00 (42% of a 24 hour day), 68% of the injuries sustai ned by the fire fighters studied occurred during these time periods. P er alarm, at meal time or on the night shift fire fighters were more l ikely to be injured. Serious injuries were more prevalent at standardl y accepted meal-times. The timing of the highest frequencies of injuri es suggests that, due to the shiftwork nature of firefighting, both di sruption of eating patterns and fatigue increase the risk of work-rela ted injury to fire fighters. By understanding the contribution of fact ors, especially human ones, such as altered metabolism (due to disrupt ion) and fatigue (due to time elapsed since awakening, alteration/disr uption of sleep-wake pattern, or hypoglycaemia), interventions can be developed, which should decrease the incidence of injuries to fire fig hters.