• 대한불안의학회지
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• 제15권1호
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• pp.35-44
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• 2019

Objective : The aim of this study was to investigate the individual and job related factors as risk factors for mental health of firefighters. Methods : The data of 202 fire-fighters was analyzed by using a multinomial logistic regression analysis. All participants completed self-reported questionnaires including demographics (sex, age, work duration), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire, the Ways of Coping Checklist, the Colleague related traumatic events, the Korean occupational stress scale, the Korean Perceived Stress Scale-10, and the Beck Depression Inventory. Participants were divided into three groups according to the level of stress and depressive symptom scores: Low Stress-Low Depression (LS-LD), High Stress-Low Depression (HS-LD), and High Stress-High Depression (HS-HD). Results : A job related factor-organizational injustice-was a significant factor related to HS-LD, while individual factors such as active coping level and childhood trauma experience and a job related factor-difficult physical environment-were significantly associated with HS-HD. Conclusion : These results imply the need to take both individual and environmental approaches into account when managing the stress and depression of firefighters. More specifically, psycho-education to facilitate active coping strategy and adaptive emotional regulation at the individual level and the improvement of physical work environment of firefighters should be supported.

• 한국생활환경학회지
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• 제24권1호
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• pp.95-106
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to evaluate comfort functions while wearing firefighters' protective gloves in dry and wet conditions at $70^{\circ}C$ air temperature with radiant heat. Four types of firefighting gloves from Korea, Germany, United States, and Japan were evaluated in both dry and wet conditions by eight male firefighters. Firefighters put their hands and forearms wearing gloves into a hands-radiant chamber that maintained at an air temperature of $70{\pm}2^{\circ}C$ ($T_a$) and globe temperature $106^{\circ}C$ ($T_g$). During the exposure, subjects followed a fixed protocol of manual movements and stopped the exposure when they felt being intolerable. Results showed that completion time was extended by 6 min on average when gloves got wet and 15 min for the Japanese gloves was extended when compared to its dry condition (p<.001); microclimate humidity on the palm at the last stage was greater for wet conditions than dry conditions in the all gloves; and skin temperatures on mid-fingertip, palm, and hand were significantly lower for wet conditions than dry conditions especially for Japanese gloves (p<.001). These results indicate that the exposure time without thermal pain to radiant heat could be extended by wetting gloves during the low radiant heat exposure.

• 한국의류산업학회지
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• 제21권5호
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• pp.606-617
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• 2019

The present study newly developed a firefighters' protective jacket and pants using a Nomex honeycomb structured layer (HPC) in cases of being exposed to flashover or flameover. This study evaluated the protective and comfort functions of an HPC compared to the current KFI firefighters' protective clothing (FPC). The results are as follows. First, thermal protective performance (TPP) of fabric layers was 2.75 times greater for HPC than FPC at $125kW/m^2$. Second, the predicted second and third degree burn areas were smaller for HPC than FPC when using a flame manikin. Third, thermal insulation using a thermal manikin was 0.2 clo greater for HPC than FPC. Fourth, there were no marked differences in maximal performance, mobility, and microclimate temperature/humidity between FPC and HPC through human wear trials. The thermal insulation of HPC was higher than that of FPC; however, any negative effect of HPC thermal insulation on the comfort functions for firefighters was not found. In conclusion, the newly-developed HPC provided more protection in reducing burn injuries from $125kW/m^2$, while no negative impact on maximal performance, mobility and thermal comfort functions of firefighters, which is appropriate for quick-evasive tactics at the flashover, flameover or back draft fires.

• 한국응급구조학회지
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• 제23권1호
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• pp.49-60
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• 2019

Purpose: This study was conducted to analyze job stress, ego-resilience, and results of the impact of event scale in order to verify the actual job stress of firefighters and provide baseline data for developing resolution programs. Methods: Data were collected via e-mail from 270 firefighters working at 119 safety centers and firehouses in the regions of Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, Busan, and Gyeongsang-do between the $1^{st}$ and $30^{th}$ of July, 2017. Results: Regarding gender differences in job stress, women ($2.16{\pm}0.65$) showed statistically significant job stress compared to men ($1.93{\pm}0.57$). As for the results of the incident impact of event scale statistically significant differences were observed (p=.001), and ego-resilience in men ($4.15{\pm}0.54$) was significantly higher than that in women ($3.79{\pm}0.75$) (p=.006). Depending on the work period, there were statistically significant differences (p=.000) in job stress, ego-resilience (p=.002), and impact of event scale (p=.000). Conclusion: Since job stress, ego-resilience, and results of the impact of event scale were closely related to dispatch frequency and work period of the firefighters, detailed and continuous stress management programs that consider these factors need to be developed.

• 지역사회간호학회지
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• 제33권4호
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• pp.396-407
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess insomnia and the quality of sleep, investigate the concordance between objective and self-report sleep patterns, and identify physiological, psychological, and situational factors influencing insomnia and sleep quality among firefighters. Methods: A descriptive, cross-sectional study was conducted with 103 firefighters in Korea. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS 23.0. Descriptive statistics, the independent t-test, and hierarchical logistic regression analysis were performed. Results: Insomnia was found in 66 (64.1 %) of the total subjects, and the average quality of sleep (PSQI) was 5.65 (SD=2.57). Total sleep time (401.00 minutes) and sleep latency (21.60 minutes) measured using self-reported scales were longer than the ones measured using objective measurements by approximately 48.70 and 17.10 minutes, respectively. Factors related to insomnia included the role as a paramedic (OR=4.28, 95% CI: 1.02~17.92), anxiety (OR=1.12, 95% CI: 1.01~1.24), and sedentary lifestyle (OR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.78~0.94), and factors related to sleep quality were physical illness status (OR=5.17, 95% CI: 1.53~17.51) and social support (OR=0.86, 95% CI: 0.78~0.95). Conclusion: The results show a high prevalence of insomnia, poor quality of sleep and the discrepancy between objective and subjective sleep patterns among firefighters. To promote sleep quality and health, early screening and treatment of anxiety and physical illness are required. It is necessary to conduct further studies examining the relationship between physical activity level and sleep.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• 제34권
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• pp.37.1-37.15
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• 2022

Background: This study investigated the effect of dispatch frequency on blood cadmium levels and the effect of blood cadmium levels on hypertension in male firefighters in a metropolitan city. Methods: We conducted a retrospective longitudinal study of male firefighters who completed the regular health checkups, including a health examination survey and blood cadmium measurements. We followed them for 3 years. To investigate the effect of dispatch frequency on blood cadmium levels and the effect of blood cadmium levels on hypertension, we estimated the short-term (model 1) and long-term (model 2) effects of exposure and hypothesized a reversed causal pathway model (model 3) for sensitivity analysis. Sequential conditional mean models were fitted using generalized estimating equations, and the odds ratios (ORs) and the respective 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated for hypertension for log-transformed (base 2) blood cadmium levels and quartiles. Results: Using the lowest category of dispatch frequency as a reference, we observed that the highest category showed an increase in blood cadmium levels of 1.879 (95% CI: 0.673, 3.086) ㎍/dL and 0.708 (95% CI: 0.023, 1.394) ㎍/dL in models 2 and 3, respectively. In addition, we observed that doubling the blood cadmium level significantly increased the odds of hypertension in model 1 (OR: 1.772; 95% CI: 1.046, 3.003) and model 3 (OR: 4.288; 95% CI: 1.110, 16.554). Using the lowest quartile of blood cadmium levels as a reference, the highest quartile showed increased odds of hypertension in model 1 (OR: 2.968; 95% CI: 1.121, 7.861) and model 3 (OR: 33.468; 95% CI: 1.881, 595.500). Conclusions: We found that dispatch frequency may affect blood cadmium levels in male firefighters, and high blood cadmium levels may influence hypertension in a dose-response manner.

• Annals of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
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• 제34권
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• pp.27.1-27.12
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• 2022

Background: Shift work that interferes with normal sleep patterns, is known to be a cause of sleep disturbance and has been studied through various occupational groups. However, it is not known which shift type is better for sleep health. Methods: This study included 568 firefighters. Sleep quality was evaluated using Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Sleep quality was categorized into 2 groups; good quality (≤ 5 points) and poor quality (≥ 6 points). Demographic variables, depression, anxiety, type of shift, and job were collected by self-reported questionnaires. The χ² test, t-test, and multiple logistic regression analysis were used to evaluate the effect of shift type on the sleep quality of firefighters. Results: Three hundred thirty-seven firefighters (59.3%) have poor sleep quality. Compared to day workers, the odds ratios (ORs) of poor sleep quality were 2.169 (95% confidence interval: 1.137-4.134) in 6-day cycle, 2.161 (1.150-4.062) in 9-day cycle, 1.805 (1.087-2.997) in 21-day cycle, and 1.485 (0.718-3.069) in 3-day cycle. The ORs of poor sleep quality were 1.697(1.021-2.823) in fire suppression and 2.325 (1.213-4.455) in emergency medical service compared to administration. Conclusions: All shift work type except for the 3-day cycle was associated with poor sleep quality compared to day work.

• 한국응급구조학회지
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.47-55
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• 2000

The study was conducted to investigate the burnout of firefighters. The subjects were 223 firefighters in C-Do. The instruments used for this study were a survey of general characteristics(10 items), burnout(23 items). Analysis of data was done by use of mean percentage, t-test, ANOVA, stepwise multiple regression with SAS program. The results of this study are as follows; 1. Burnout according to general characteristics were showed significant difference in job-aptitude(F＝6.30, P<.001), health status(F＝5.92, P<.001), education(t＝6.09, P<.01), working place rotation(t＝2.59, P<.01), call number/week(F＝3.28, P<.01), job-burden(F＝4.45, P<.01), paper-job burden(F＝3.87, P<.05). 2. Category score of burnout were showed the higher score in the lowed personal accomplishment(3.29). 3. Category score of burnout according to aptitude were showed difference each other. 4. Predicting factor of burnout were paper-job burden, health status, job-burden(20.99%).

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제16권4호
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• pp.147-157
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• 2014

Firefighters receive extreme stress and suffer from PTSD in disaster. But we have not been paid attention to them. The purpose of this study is to analyze the problems of previous PTSD education programs in fire academy and to present the practical educational programs for firefighters to use in the disaster field. In the empirical analysis of this practical educational programs(EFT program), this program is more effective than existing theory-focused education training program.

• 대한안전경영과학회지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.1-13
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• 2017

In this study, using the synetics technique for strategies by making unfamiliarity into familiarity in the case of 911 terrorism. This study has meaningful messages for citizens and firefighters' illness caused by disaster sites in the field of disaster management in Korea. There are 7 stages to explain cause of a variety of cancers happening to citizens and firefighters in this study. The 7 stages are composed of real situation, direct analogies, personal analogies, symbolic analogies, new direct analogies, and review. This synetics will contribute to providing better ideas for citizens and firefighters' physical and mental health conditions.