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Acute cardiovascular effects of firefighting and active cooling during rehabilitation
Jefferey L Burgess1, Michael D Duncan, Chengcheng Hu
1Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, University of Arizona, Tucson, Ariz 85724, USA. jburgess@email.arizona.edu
Objectives:
To determine the cardiovascular and hemostatic effects of fire suppression and postexposure active cooling.
Methods:
Forty-four firefighters were evaluated before and after a 12-minute live-fire drill. Next, 50 firefighters performing the same drill were randomized to undergo postfire forearm immersion in 10 °C water or standard rehabilitation.
Results:
In the first study, heart rate and core body temperature increased and serum C-reactive protein decreased but there were no significant changes in fibrinogen, sE-selectin, or sL-selectin. The second study demonstrated an increase in blood coagulability, leukocyte count, factors VIII and X, cortisol, and glucose, and a decrease in plasminogen and sP-selectin. Active cooling reduced mean core temperature, heart rate, and leukocyte count.
Conclusions:
Live-fire exposure increased core temperature, heart rate, coagulability, and leukocyte count; all except coagulability were reduced by active cooling.
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