Citation

Ide CW. Fire Eng J 1998; 58(197): 19-26.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, California Chapter of the American Academy of Emergency Medicine)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

During the decade beginning 1st January 1985, 887 wholetime firefighters, all male, left the service of Strathclyde Fire Brigade (SFB). There were 17 deaths - compared to 64.4 expected in the Scottish male population aged 15-54 - giving a standardized mortality ratio (SMR) of 26, and 488 ill-health retirals (IHR). None of the deaths was attributable to service, the major causes being: myocardial infarction - five, (expected 17.3 SMR 29); cancers - three (colon, kidney and lung), (expected 13.6 SMR 22); road traffic accidents - two (expected 4.17 SMR 48); and suicide - two (expected 4.9 SMR 41). Amalgamating the deaths and IHRs showed that the six most common reasons for IHR were musculoskeletal (n = 202, 40%), ocular (n = 61, 12.1%) 'others' (n = 58, 11.5%), injuries (n = 50, 9.9%), heart disease (n = 48, 9.5%) and mental disorders (n = 45, 8.9%). Over 300 IHRs (60+%) occurred after 20 or more years service. When the IHRs were subdivided into two quinquennia, there were 203 and 302 in each period. Mean length of service during each quinquennium was 19.4 vs 21.3 yrs (p = 0.003) and median length 21 yrs in both periods, interquartile range 12-26 yrs in the first and 17-27 yrs in the second (p = 0.002); but when further broken down into diagnostic categories, the differences were not statistically significant, with the exception of means of IHRs attributed to mental disorders (14.5 vs 19 yrs p = 0.03).