Abstract
Structural firefighters are responsible for protecting properties and saving lives during emergency operations. Despite efforts to prepare firefighters for these hazardous occupational demands, the unfortunate reality is that the incidence of health morbidities is increasing within the fire service. Specifically, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and mental health disorders are among the most documented morbidities in firefighters. Pubmed and Google Scholar search engines were used to identify peer-reviewed English language manuscripts that evaluated firefighters’ occupational health threats, allostatic factors associated with their occurrence, and evidence-based strategies to mitigate their impact. This narrative review provides fire departments, practitioners, and researchers with evidence-based practices to enhance firefighters’ health.
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2024
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare12040440
Funding Information
This research received no external funding.
Repository Citation
Gonzalez, Drew E.; Lanham, Sarah N.; Martin, Steven E.; Cleveland, Richard E.; Wilson, Thad E.; Langford, Emily L.; and Abel, Mark G., "Firefighter Health: A Narrative Review of Occupational Threats and Countermeasures" (2024). UK CARES Faculty Publications. 45.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/ukcares_facpub/45
Notes/Citation Information
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).