Body Composition And Blood Pressure Responses In Volunteer Firefighter Population

The dangerous emergency scenes firefighters are called upon increase the risk of sudden cardiac death, which claims more firefighter (FF) lives than actual fires do. Prior studies have reported that wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) and a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) creates CV stress in FF. Recently we examined blood pressure (BP) and heart rate (HR) responses to a treadmill test in volunteer firefighters and found that BP and HR responses are exaggerated when a firefighter wears full gear (PPE + SCBA) (data to be published). It needs to be determined whether body size affects this response

Effect of Weight and an Increased Workload on Heart Rate and Blood Pressure

Previous studies have shown that personal protective equipment (PPE) is responsible for increases in heart rate (HR) and VO2max response in firefighters (FF), but has not been examined in collegiate lacrosse players. We have found that FF have exaggerated blood pressure (BP) responses to a treadmill test, and during recovery when wearing PPE (data unpublished)