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Acute effects of firefighting on cardiac performance

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Abstract

This study examined standard echocardiographic measures of cardiac size and performance in response to a 3-h firefighting training exercise. Forty experienced male personnel completed a standardized 3 h live firefighting exercise. Before and after the firefighting activities, participants were weighed, height, heart rate, blood pressure and blood samples were obtained, and echocardiographic measurements were made. Firefighting produced significant decreases in left ventricular diastolic dimension, stroke volume, fractional shortening, and mitral E velocity, tachycardia, a rise in core temperature, and a reduction in calculated plasma volume. On tissue Doppler imaging, there were no changes in systolic contractile function, but a decreased lateral wall diastolic velocity was observed. These findings show that 3 h of live firefighting produced cardiac changes consistent with cardiac fatigue, coupled with a decrease in systemic arterial compliance. These data show that live firefighting produces significant cardiovascular changes and future work is needed to evaluate if these changes are related to the increase in cardiovascular risk during live firefighting.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by grant EMW-2007-FP-02328 from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Conflict of interest

None of the authors have any conflict of interest to report.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Kinesiology and Community Health, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 227 Freer Hall MC-052, 906 South Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, IL, 61801, USA

    Bo Fernhall & Christopher A. Fahs

  2. Department of Health and Exercise Sciences, Skidmore College, Saratoga Springs, NY, USA

    Denise Smith

  3. Department of Pediatrics, Baystate Medical Center, Springfield, MA, USA

    Thomas Rowland

  4. Illinois Fire Service Institute, Champaign, IL, USA

    Gavin Horn & Denise Smith

Authors
  1. Bo Fernhall
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  2. Christopher A. Fahs
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  3. Gavin Horn
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  4. Thomas Rowland
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  5. Denise Smith
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bo Fernhall.

Additional information

Communicated by Dag Linnarsson.

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Fernhall, B., Fahs, C.A., Horn, G. et al. Acute effects of firefighting on cardiac performance. Eur J Appl Physiol 112, 735–741 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-2033-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00421-011-2033-x

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