Firefighter Health and Safety

Metabolic & Applied Physiology (MAP) Lab Community Resilience Collaboration

ABOUT THE PROJECT

Firefighters walking up a stadium staircase.

Sponsor:

THRC's Community Health and Economic Resilience Research (CHERR) Center of Excellence

PI:

Dr. Matt McAllister

Research Pillar(s):

An icon of a road with a leaf cluster as the middle pavement marking.
A briefcase icon with a Red Cross symbol, meant to represent the STEM and Healthcare Workforce priority.
A head icon with a heart in place of a brain, meant to represent the Personal Health and Wellbeing pillar.
An icon of an medical monitor showing heart beat activity, meant to represent the Digital Healthcare Transformation pillar.
An ambulance moving at high speed with the siren on, meant to represent the Emergency Preparedness pillar.

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death among firefighters due to the environmental, physical, and psychological stressors they encounter in their profession. This project aimed to improve firefighter health and performance by using biomarker analysis to investigate the relationship between markers of stress and cardiovascular disease. The study demonstrated that maintaining high cardiorespiratory fitness is key to reducing the risk of cardiovascular disease in firefighters.  

Findings were disseminated during a 2023 webinar that emphasized the importance of fitness testing in the firefighter community. Participants learned ways to mitigate the impacts of stress and heard testimonies from fire departments who have implemented fitness testing in their practice.

Researchers & Collaborators

Headshot of Dr. Matt McAllister.

Dr. Matt McAllister

Faculty Fellow, THRC

Associate Professor, Health and Human Performance

Headshot of Steve Martin.

Steve Martin

Collaborator

Associate Director, Huffines Institute

Headshot of Jason Moates.

Jason Moates

Collaborator

Director, TEEX Testing and Innovation Center

PARTNERS

Texas A&M TEEX logo.
MAP Lab logo.
Texas A&M Sydney and JL Huffines Institute for Sports Medicine and Human Performance logo.
Texas A&M Kinesiology & Sport Management logo.

PRESENTATIONS

WEBINAR: Improving Firefighter Health and Performance

MARCH 8, 2023

THRC hosted a webinar to share Dr. McAllister's research and recommendations to improve the health and performance of firefighters. The webinar presented a collaboration between THRC, the MAP Lab, and the Huffines Institute at Texas A&M.

The webinar drew participation from across Texas, with attendees joining from San Antonio, Austin, San Marcos, Midland, Longview, Houston, Lewisville, College Station, Hutto, Abilene, Arlington, Waco, Denton, and El Paso. 

A Holistic Approach to Health, Immunity, and Post-COVID-19 Rehabilitation

November 9, 2022

Our inaugural Health+Resilience Research Network meeting brought together faculty and staff from around campus for a lunch research talk to listen to Dr. Matt McAllister (Department of Health & Human Performance) present this research. 

McAllister, M. (2022). A holistic approach to health, immunity, and post COVID-19 rehabilitation. Health+ Resilience Research Network, San Marcos, Texas.

PUBLICATIONS

Risk Factors for Cardiometabolic Disease in Professional Firefighters

This study investigated the relationships between fitness metrics, blood lipids, blood pressure, and years of experience as a firefighter to blood markers of insulin resistance, oxidative stress, and inflammation to gain further insight on cardiometabolic disease (CMD) risk.

Firefighters With Higher Cardiorespiratory Fitness Demonstrate Lower Markers of Cardiovascular Disease Risk

Forty-six firefighters participated in a maximal graded exercise test and a dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry scan and provided a fasted blood sample to establish high- and low-fitness groups.

IN THE NEWS

An animated graphic of a firefighter kneeling down surrounded by fire.

Medical Tests May Help Save Firefighter Lives

Texas Community Health News
July 1, 2023 
Read Article >>