• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.670-681
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• 2017

Firefighting hoods protect the head, face, and neck areas of officials while they perform firefighting services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the head size of Korean firefighting officials in order to establish the dimensions necessary to construct firefighting hoods. A total of 98 male firefighting officials participated in this study and 11 body dimensions, necessary for the construction of firefighting hoods, were measured. The data collected from the firefighting officials were compared to the general adult male data from the Size Korea national anthropometric study. The heights, weights, head circumferences, head heights, and bitragion arcs of the firefighters were significantly larger than those of general adult males, which shows that firefighting officials generally have larger body and head sizes than general adult males. Based on the results of Pearson's correlation coefficients, head circumference and head height were judged to be the important measurements for the construction of the firefighting hoods. Thus, these two measurements were chosen as the basic dimensions of the cross tabulation analysis. As a result, head circumferences of 57.00~60.99cm and head heights of 23.00~25.99 cm were found to be important measurement ranges among the firefighters. This study is expected to be used as the basis for the creation of firefighting hoods that help to ensure the safe rescue activities for firefighting officials.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.71-74
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• 2015

Obesity and fitness have been identified as key health concerns among USA firefighters yet little is known about the current habits related to exercise and diet. In particular, high-intensity training (HIT) has gained increasing popularity among this population but limited quantitative data are available about how often it is used and the relationship between HIT and other outcomes. Using survey methodology, the current study evaluated self-reported HIT and diet practice among 625 male firefighters. Almost one-third (32.3%) of participants reported engaging in HIT. Body composition, as measured by waist circumference and percentage body fat, was significantly related to HIT training, with HIT participants being approximately half as likely to be classified as obese using body fat [odds ratio (OR) = 0.52, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.34-0.78] or waist circumference (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.37-0.98). Those who engaged in HIT were more than twice as likely as those who did not (OR = 2.24, 95% CI = 1.42-3.55) to meet fitness recommendations. Findings highlight directions for future prevention and intervention efforts.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.6 no.3
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• pp.192-199
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• 2015

Background: Overweight, obesity, and cardiovascular disease risk factors are prevalent among firefighters in some developed countries. It is unclear whether physical activity and cardiopulmonary fitness reduce cardiovascular disease risk and the cardiovascular workload at work in firefighters. The present study investigated the relationship between leisure-time physical activity, cardiopulmonary fitness, cardiovascular disease risk factors, and cardiovascular workload at work in firefighters in Hong Kong. Methods: Male firefighters (n = 387) were randomly selected from serving firefighters in Hong Kong (n = 5,370) for the assessment of cardiovascular disease risk factors (obesity, hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, smoking, known cardiovascular diseases). One-third (Target Group) were randomly selected for the assessment of off-duty leisure-time physical activity using the short version of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire. Maximal oxygen uptake was assessed, as well as cardiovascular workload using heart rate monitoring for each firefighter for four "normal" 24-hour working shifts and during real-situation simulated scenarios. Results: Overall, 33.9% of the firefighters had at least two cardiovascular disease risk factors. In the Target Group, firefighters who had higher leisure-time physical activity had a lower resting heart rate and a lower average working heart rate, and spent a smaller proportion of time working at a moderate-intensity cardiovascular workload. Firefighters who had moderate aerobic fitness and high leisure-time physical activity had a lower peak working heart rate during the mountain rescue scenario compared with firefighters who had low leisure-time physical activities. Conclusion: Leisure-time physical activity conferred significant benefits during job tasks of moderate cardiovascular workload in firefighters in Hong Kong.

• Korean Journal of Occupational Health Nursing
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.218-226
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• 2017

Purpose: The study aimed to determine the impact of post-traumatic stress and ways of stress coping on problem drinking in firefighters. Methods: Data were collected from May 11 to June 11, 2015, in fire brigades across South Korea. Participants were 183 male firefighters who used self-report questionnaires containing questions from the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), Ways of Coping Checklist (WCC), and Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test (AUDIT). Data were analyzed using $x^2$ test, t-test, and logistic regression with the SPSS/WIN 21.0 program. Results: The prevalence of PTSD among firefighters was 36.7% and that of problem drinking was 39.3%. Firefighters with single (OR=0.23, 95% CI=0.038~1.321) and married status (OR=0.46, 95% CI=0.069~3.040) were less likely to have problem drinking than those who were divorced or bereavement. Those with invasion symptoms (OR=1.17, 95% CI=1.031~1.327) and hyperarousal symptoms (OR=0.85, 95% CI=0.722~0.989) were more likely to have problem drinking than those with avoidance symptoms. Conclusion: Post-traumatic stress symptom was a major risk factor that increased problem drinking, and married status reduced problem drinking. There is a need to develop post-traumatic stress symptom management program and early education content for symptom management.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Safety
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.88-94
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• 2013

The purpose of this study is to find out the difference of foot pressure according to the firefighter's work postures for providing the basic information to prevent Musculoskeletal disorders. This study was conducted by 9 male firefighters. Work postures were selected for rescuee handling, fire hose and hydraulic rescue equipment work postures. These were divided into 3 position, "High", "Middle" and the postures of taking out and letting down hydraulic rescue equipment were analyzed as starting point and end point respectively. Foot Pressure was used to analyze contact area, peak pressure, and maximum force in terms of work postures, and compared between fire hose and hydraulic rescue equipment work postures. The results of foot pressure are as follows. According to the results of rescuee handling work postures, one person handling posture showed wide contact area and foot pressure showed the highest at right foot. Accoridng to the (High), (Middle), (Low) postures of fire hose, the results didn't show the difference among the contact area, peak pressure and maximum force. As the results of hydraulic rescue equipment work postures, (Low) postures showed the highest in terms of the right foot of contact area, peak pressure and maximum force and (High) postures showed the highest in left foot. The increase of foot pressure lead to be inconvenience of low extremity and muscle fatigue for maintaining postural control cause pain. Thus, it is necessary to design insole-equipped working shoe for reduce the impulse and effect of foot during the rescuee handling work which standing out as foot pressure.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.13 no.4
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• pp.387-393
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• 2022

Background: Problem drinking is a perennial concern in the US fire service. A large literature has documented the importance of addressing alcohol norms in intervention research. The purpose of this study was to explore alcohol norms in a national cohort of firefighters (FFs) to inform intervention development in this occupational group. Methods: Data were from a national online survey of career and volunteer FFs (N = 674). Participants were recruited through national fire service listservs and a database of FFs who had agreed to be contacted for research. Results: When asked about "acceptable" levels of alcohol consumption, FFs on average suggested levels which exceeded public health guidelines. Further, approximately half of career and volunteer FFs believed that, at least under some circumstances, drinking until intoxicated was normative. When asked how long should elapse between a FFs last drink and reporting for duty, the average suggested lag was 11.2 hours (sd = 4.6). However, among male volunteer FFs who reported heavy drinking, the average was 6.68 hours (sd = 4.77). Conclusions: Given the high prevalence of heavy and binge drinking in the fire service, it is not surprising that the alcohol norms found in this study were consistent with a culture of drinking. Participants' reports of alcohol use among their peers were consistent with the actual prevalence of problem drinking. Thus, education and prevention efforts in this occupation should focus on changing norms about alcohol use, including linking heavy drinking to other health and safety issues they face.

• Fire Science and Engineering
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• v.33 no.5
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• pp.118-129
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• 2019

Firefighters are high-risk group for posttraumatic stress disorder because they are repeatedly exposed to traumatic events. In this study, we examined the effects of a short-term, intensive, Mind subtraction meditation-based healing program on the ruminations and posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms of firefighters. In 2019, we used a survey questionnaire to assess the intrusive ruminations of 80 firefighters at a firefighting headquarters before and after implementing the Mind subtraction meditation-based healing program and personal journals over a period of two nights and three days. The results showed that there was a significant decrease in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, from 32.40 (± 14.67) to 30.31 (± 13.76) among the male subjects, and a significant decrease in posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms, from 32.03 (± 13.31) to 27.33 (± 10.68) and intrusive ruminations, from 5.21 (± 7.32) to 3.41 (± 6.30), among the female subjects. In conclusion, the Mind subtraction meditation-based healing program was effective in reducing the posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms and intrusive ruminations of firefighters. Therefore, the Mind subtraction meditation-based healing program could be proposed as a mental health promotion program for firefighters.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.8 no.4
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• pp.386-392
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• 2017

Background: Fire service workers often implement multiple duties in the emergency conditions, with such duties being mostly conducted in various ambient temperatures. Methods: The aim of the current study was to assess the firefighters' physiological responses, information processing, and working memory prior to and following simulated firefighting activities in three different hot environments. Seventeen healthy male firefighters performed simulated firefighting tasks in three separate conditions, namely (1) low heat (LH; $29-31^{\circ}C$, 55-60% relative humidity), (2) moderate heat (MH; $32-34^{\circ}C$, 55-60% relative humidity), and (3) severe heat (SH; $35-37^{\circ}C$, 55-60% relative humidity). It took about 45-50 minutes for each firefighter to finish all defined firefighting activities and the paced auditory serial addition test (PASAT). Results: At the end of all the three experimental conditions, heart rate (HR) and tympanic temperature (TT) increased, while PASAT scores as a measure of information processing performance decreased relative to baseline. HR and TT were significantly higher at the end of the experiment in the SH ($159.41{\pm}4.25beats/min$; $38.22{\pm}0.10^{\circ}C$) compared with the MH ($156.59{\pm}3.77beats/min$; $38.20{\pm}0.10^{\circ}C$) and LH ($154.24{\pm}4.67beats/min$; $38.17{\pm}0.10^{\circ}C$) conditions (p < 0.05). There was no significant difference in PASAT scores between LH and MH (p > 0.05). Nonetheless, there was a measurable difference in PASAT scores between LH and SH (p < 0.05). Conclusion: These consequences demonstrate that ambient temperature is effective in raising the physiological responses following firefighting activities. It is therefore argued that further increase of ambient temperature can impact firefighters' information processing and working memory during firefighting activity.