BACKGROUND: Wildland fires cost billions of dollars annually and expose thousands of firefighters to a variety of occupational hazards. Little is known about injury patterns among wildland firefighters. METHODS: We examined non-fatal firefighter injuries among federal wildland firefighters reported to the US Department of the Interior for the years 2003-2007. The risk of disabling injury by job assignment, controlling for demographic and temporal variables, was assessed with logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 1301 non-fatal injuries, slips, trips, and falls were the most frequent injury types and sprains/strains were the most common injury. Engine crew workers suffered a third of all injuries. Handcrews and helitak/smokejumper assignments had increased odds of sprains and strains, which were the most common injury overall. CONCLUSIONS: While some injuries are equally prevalent by job assignment, others vary. Identifying hazards leading to these injuries will be essential to develop prevention strategies.
BACKGROUND: Wildland fires cost billions of dollars annually and expose thousands of firefighters to a variety of occupational hazards. Little is known about injury patterns among wildland firefighters. METHODS: We examined non-fatal firefighter injuries among federal wildland firefighters reported to the US Department of the Interior for the years 2003-2007. The risk of disabling injury by job assignment, controlling for demographic and temporal variables, was assessed with logistic regression. RESULTS: Of the 1301 non-fatal injuries, slips, trips, and falls were the most frequent injury types and sprains/strains were the most common injury. Engine crew workers suffered a third of all injuries. Handcrews and helitak/smokejumper assignments had increased odds of sprains and strains, which were the most common injury overall. CONCLUSIONS: While some injuries are equally prevalent by job assignment, others vary. Identifying hazards leading to these injuries will be essential to develop prevention strategies.
Authors: Katie M Applebaum; Jay Graham; George M Gray; Peter LaPuma; Sabrina A McCormick; Amanda Northcross; Melissa J Perry Journal: Curr Environ Health Rep Date: 2016-03