Residents who live near wildfires or near smoke should stay indoors or leave the area completely due to known pollutants in smoke. It is said that
But what happens to the firefighters on the front lines fighting fires and those nearby? They inhale smoke and are not equipped with the full oxygen supply systems normally used by structural firefighters. What damage can that smoke cause?
Seo Min Chung, an associate professor at Texas A&M's Bush School of Government and Public Service, would like to know more about the effects on the heart. She is leveraging wearable technology to study the effects of direct smoke inhalation on firefighters fighting wildfires in the spring and summer of 2023.
Cheong, along with researchers from the Texas A&M Forest Service and Stanford University School of Medicine, collected data from 56 firefighters each equipped with an Apple Watch and an air quality sensor.
Apple Watch is equipped with a sensor that measures the user's heart rate. The air quality sensors they carry measure the air around them as firefighters move. Although Cheong is not yet able to share his conclusions from the data, the idea is to correlate firefighters' heart rates during times when the smoke is heaviest and when they may be resting away from the smoke. It is.
Chong said that while the lungs have been well studied in relation to wildfire smoke and health, the heart has not.
“We're looking at the effects of smoke exposure on the firefighters' hearts,” Chong said. “Firefighters are typically healthy. However, cardiovascular conditions can vary depending on an individual's health status, and exposure to smoke can further worsen existing health conditions. ”
He said the study was different from others in that it was a “fine-grained, detailed measurement.” Typically, they check firefighters into hospitals to check on their condition or take blood samples, so this study could be done using devices such as smartwatches or portable air quality sensors worn on backpacks or belts. This is one of the first studies to use wearable sensors to measure this. Or pants. ”
Chong said wildfire smoke from wood contains the same dangerous chemicals as cigarette smoke and can cause respiratory and cardiovascular symptoms within an hour.
Wildland firefighters are encouraged to wear masks, but they often don't because wearing a mask makes it difficult to breathe. And wildland firefighters often spend days or weeks fighting fires, which poses not only physical effects but also mental challenges. Chong said physical stress leads to mental stress. But that's just another layer.
“Longer shifts, fewer breaks, and traveling away from family all contribute to mental stress,” she says.
She and local experts hope the results of her study, published later this summer, will shed light on the dangers of fighting wildland fires and how to deal with them.
“The information collected in this study will contribute to a better understanding of the effects of smoke exposure on wildland firefighters and improve wildland firefighting efforts,” Texas A&M Forest Service Chief Wes Moorhead said in a statement. It will help coordinate preventive safety measures.” “Firefighter safety is a top priority in our daily operations, so we look forward to using the results of this study to advance our operations and safety procedures.”
