Reproducibility and validity of the stair-climb test for fire fighters

Purpose  

A new job-specific test for fire fighters, the stair-climb test (FFstair-climb) was evaluated for reproducibility and validity for use in future workers’ health surveillance.     

Comparison of Poisson and Bernoulli spatial cluster analyses of pediatric injuries in a fire district

Background  

With limited resources available, injury prevention efforts need to be targeted both geographically and to specific populations. As part of a pediatric injury prevention project, data was obtained on all pediatric medical and injury incidents in a fire district to evaluate geographical clustering of pediatric injuries. This will be the first step in attempting to prevent these injuries with specific interventions depending on locations and mechanisms.     

The health of women in the US fire service

Background

Despite statements from national fire service organizations, including the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) and the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), promoting a diverse work force related to gender within the fire service, rates of women firefighters remain very low. Thus, research into why this extensive gender disparity continues is a high priority. Recent years have seen a number of large scale studies on firefighter health and health risk behaviors however, none have focused on the health of women firefighters and nearly all have eliminated women from the sample due to small sample size. Data from the present report is drawn from all females in a large, randomly selected cohort of firefighters in an epidemiological study designed to assess health outcomes and health risk behaviors identified as most important to the fire service.

Methods

Data reported for the present study were collected as baseline data for the Firefighter Injury and Risk Evaluation (FIRE) Study, a longitudinal cohort study examining risk factors for injury in both career and volunteer firefighters in the IAFC Missouri Valley Region. Of the departments assessed, only 8 career and 6 volunteer departments had any women firefighters. All the women solicited for participation chose to enroll in the study. The number of women ranged from 1 to 7 in career departments and 1 to 6 in volunteer departments.

Results

Where possible, comparisons are made between female firefighters and published data on male firefighters as well as comparisons between female firefighters and military members. Compared to male firefighters, females had more favorable body composition among both career and volunteer firefighters. Tobacco use rates were generally higher among females than males and rates among female firefighters were similar to the rates of female military members. While rates of alcohol use were higher than the general population, only one of the participants evidenced responses in the range of concern on the CAGE screening.

Conclusions

In general, the findings offer an interesting glimpse of the health of women in the fire service as a generally healthy occupational workforce with some unique health risk behavior challenges. They also highlight some of the similarities and differences between male and female firefighters and bolster the argument for studying female firefighters as a unique occupational sub-population.     

Vegetation fire smoke,indigenous status and cardio-respiratory hospital admissions in Darwin,Australia, 1996–2005: a time-series study

Background  

Air pollution in Darwin, Northern Australia, is dominated by smoke from seasonal fires in the surrounding savanna that burn during the dry season from April to November. Our aim was to study the association between particulate matter less than or equal to 10 microns diameter (PM₁₀) and daily emergency hospital admissions for cardio-respiratory diseases for each fire season from 1996 to 2005. We also investigated whether the relationship differed in indigenous Australians; a disadvantaged population sub-group.     

Favourable cost-benefit in an early defibrillation programme using dual dispatch of ambulance and fire services in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

Aims

Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest is fatal without treatment, and time to defibrillation is an extremely important factor in relation to survival. We performed a cost-benefit analysis of dual dispatch defibrillation by ambulance and fire services in the County of Stockholm, Sweden.

Methods and results

A cost-benefit analysis was performed to evaluate the effects of dual dispatch defibrillation. The increased survival rates were estimated from a real-world implemented intervention, and the monetary value of a life (€ 2.2 million) was applied to this benefit by using results from a recent stated-preference study. The estimated costs include defibrillators (including expendables/maintenance), training, hospitalisation/health care, fire service call-outs, overhead resources and the dispatch centre. The estimated number of additional saved lives was 16 per year, yielding a benefit-cost ratio of 36. The cost per quality-adjusted life years (QALY) was estimated to be € 13,000, and the cost per saved life was € 60,000.

Conclusions

The intervention of dual dispatch defibrillation by ambulance and fire services in the County of Stockholm had positive economic effects. For the cost-benefit analysis, the return on investment was high and the cost-effectiveness showed levels below the threshold value for economic efficiency used in Sweden. The cost-utility analysis categorises the cost per QALY as medium.     

Expecting the unexpected: A mixed methods study of violence to EMS responders in an urban fire department

Background

Struck by injuries experienced by females were observed to be higher compared to males in an urban fire department. The disparity was investigated while gaining a grounded understanding of EMS responder experiences from patient‐initiated violence.

Methods

A convergent parallel mixed methods design was employed. Using a linked injury dataset, patient‐initiated violence estimates were calculated comparing genders. Semi‐structured interviews and a focus group were conducted with injured EMS responders.

Results

Paramedics had significantly higher odds for patient‐initiated violence injuries than firefighters (OR 14.4, 95%CI: 9.2–22.2, P < 0.001). Females reported increased odds of patient‐initiated violence injuries compared to males (OR = 6.25, 95%CI 3.8–10.2), but this relationship was entirely mediated through occupation (AOR = 1.64, 95%CI 0.94–2.85). Qualitative data illuminated the impact of patient‐initiated violence and highlighted important organizational opportunities for intervention.

Conclusions

Mixed methods greatly enhanced the assessment of EMS responder patient‐initiated violence prevention. Am. J. Ind. Med. 59:150–163, 2016. © 2016 The Authors. American Journal of Industrial Medicine Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Can Fire and Rescue Services and the National Health Service work together to improve the safety and wellbeing of vulnerable older people? Design of a proof of concept study

Background  

Older adults are at increased risk both of falling and of experiencing accidental domestic fire. In addition to advanced age, these adverse events share the risk factors of balance or mobility problems, cognitive impairment and socioeconomic deprivation. For both events, the consequences include significant injury and death, and considerable socioeconomic costs for the individual and informal carers, as well as for emergency services, health and social care agencies.     

Acute oral toxicities of wildland fire control chemicals to birds

Wildland fire control chemicals are released into the environment by aerial and ground applications to manage rangeland, grassland, and forest fires. Acute oral 24 h median lethal dosages (LD50) for three fire retardants (Fire-Trol GTS-R?, Phos-Chek D-75F?, and Fire-Trol LCG-R?) and two Class A fire suppressant foams (Silv-Ex? and Phos-Chek WD881?) were estimated for northern bobwhites, Colinus virginianus, American kestrels, Falco sparverius, and red-winged blackbirds, Agelaius phoeniceus. The LD50s of all chemicals for the bobwhites and red-winged blackbirds and for kestrels dosed with Phos-Chek WD881? and Silv-Ex? were above the predetermined 2000 mg chemical/kg body mass regulatory limit criteria for acute oral toxicity. The LD50s were not quantifiable for kestrels dosed with Fire-Trol GTS-R?, Phos-Chek D-75F?, and Fire-Trol LCG-R? because of the number of birds which regurgitated the dosage. These chemicals appear to be of comparatively low order of acute oral toxicity to the avian species tested.     

Suitability of the short-form Mini nutritional assessment in free-living elderly people in the northwest of Spain

Objective  

To evaluate the Mini Nutritional Assessment (MNA) test and the short-form MNA (MNA-SF) as screening tools for malnutrition risk and malnutrition in the free-living elderly of northwestern Spain.     

Validation of a Greek version of the oral health impact profile (OHIP-14) for use among adults

Background  

To test the validity of the short form of the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14) for use among adults in Greece.     

Reliability and validity of the Portuguese version of the Stroke Impact Scale 2.0 (SIS 2.0)

Objective  

To test the reliability and validity of the Portuguese version of the Stroke Impact Scale 2.0 (SIS 2.0).     

Effect of Functional Capacity Evaluation information on the judgment of physicians about physical work ability in the context of disability claims

Purpose  

To test whether Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) information lead insurance physicians (IPs) to change their judgment about the physical work ability of claimants with musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs).     

Factor structure and internal consistency of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Subjective Vitality Scale (VS), and the relationship between them: a study from France

Background  

The objectives of this study were to test the factor structure and internal consistency of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) and the Subjective Vitality Scale (VS) in elderly French people, and to test the relationship between these two questionnaires.     

A longitudinal evaluation of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression scale (CES-D) in a Rheumatoid Arthritis Population using Rasch Analysis

Background  

The aim of this study was to test the internal validity of the total Center for Epidemiologic Studies-Depression (CES-D) scale using Rasch analysis in a rheumatoid arthritis (RA) population.     

Reliability and validity findings of the ALPHA environmental questionnaire in Germany

Aim  

The objective of this study was to test whether the recently developed ALPHA (Instruments for Assessing Levels of Physical Activity and Fitness) environmental questionnaire for Europe is a reliable and valid instrument to assess perceptions of the physical environment in a German population.     

Tinkering with Perfection: Theory Development in the Intervention Cultural Adaptation Field

Background  

Testing evidence-based interventions (EBIs) outside of their home country has become increasingly commonplace. There is a need for theoretically guided research on how to best create and test the effects of culturally adapted interventions.     

Long-term follow-up of beryllium sensitized workers from a single employer

Background  

Up to 12% of beryllium-exposed American workers would test positive on beryllium lymphocyte proliferation test (BeLPT) screening, but the implications of sensitization remain uncertain.     

The 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12): translation and validation study of the Iranian version

Background  

The objective of this study was to translate and to test the reliability and validity of the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) in Iran.     

General practitioners' evaluation of community psychiatric services: responsiveness to change of the General Practitioner Experiences Questionnaire (GPEQ)

Background  

Instruments have been developed to assess professional views of the quality of care but have rarely been tested for responsiveness to change. The objective of this study was to test the responsiveness of the General Practitioner Experiences Questionnaire (GPEQ) for the measurement of Community Mental Health Centres in Norway.     

Validating the Time and Change test to screen for dementia in elderly Koreans

Background  

We assessed the applicability of the T&C test as an accurate and convenient means to screen for dementia in primary care and community settings.