Study: Firefighters Face Heart Attack Risk on Job

Mar 23, 04:50 AM

Current Headlines: Firefighters face a far greater risk of dying of heart problems while battling a blaze than was thought, suggests a large U.S. study that offers more evidence of their need to stay in shape.

The risk of a heart-related death while putting out a fire was up to 100 times higher than the risk during down time, Harvard researchers found, even though fighting fires accounts for only a small percentage of these workers' time.

About 100 firefighters die in the line of duty each year and previous research has shown that nearly half of the deaths are due to heart disease. The vast majority -- about 70 percent -- of the nation's roughly 1 million firefighters are volunteers.

Experts say diet and exercise should be priorities at the firehouse.

"You may not be able to prevent all these deaths, but to the degree you can prevent some deaths by paying attention to underlying risk factors and better fitness programs, that's the goal," said Dr. Linda Rosenstock, dean of the UCLA School of Public Health, who was not involved in the study.

The study, published in Thursday's New England Journal of Medicine, doesn't address whether firefighters have an overall higher risk of dying from heart disease than the general population.

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