New research published in Experimental Physiology suggests that fire service instructors are at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases due to higher levels of inflammation in their blood, and so their exposure should be limited to nine exposures per month.
While training firefighters, fire service instructors experience core temperature increases to over 38°C when demonstrating scenarios to firefighters. Fire service instructors experience this physiological strain over ten times more frequently than firefighters. Researchers in the UK found that this causes inflammation that lasts beyond the day of their exposure. This chronic inflammation may explain the increased precedence of health problems in this group.
The researchers collected blood samples from 110 fire service personnel and compared fire service instructors to firefighters in terms of markers that indicate increased risk of heart disease. They found elevated levels in the blood of fire service instructors for all the markers they examined.
They speculated that these markers, which indicate inflammation might also be linked to other symptoms that fire service instructors report, such as mood swings, night sweats, fatigue.
Commenting on the study, lead researcher Emily Watkins said:
“By limiting exposure of fight service instructors to nine times per months, the sector will enable the instructors to do their job for as many years as they want, whilst protecting their cardiovascular health.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
- Full paper title: Link to paper (link will only work after the embargo date. Before then, please email the press office for a copy of the paper) https://physoc.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1113/EP088386
- Experimental Physiology publishes advances in physiology which increase our understanding of how our bodies function in health and disease. http://ep.physoc.org
- The Physiological Society brings together over 4,000 scientists from over 60 countries. The Society promotes physiology with the public and parliament alike. It supports physiologists by organising world-class conferences and offering grants for research and also publishes the latest developments in the field in its three leading scientific journals, The Journal of Physiology, Experimental Physiology and Physiological Reports. www.physoc.org
Contacts:
The Physiological Society:
Julia Turan, Communications Manager
+44 (0)20 7269 5727
Corresponding author:
Emily Watkins, University of Roehampton
emily.Watkins@roehampton.ac.uk