European society of cardiology journal, Non-profit

A team of international researchers recently highlighted the importance of standard health check-ups for emergency workers-- firefighters, police and health staff to avoid heart events at work that might harm themselves or others.The research has been published in the 'European Society of Cardiology Journal'.The study summed up existing knowledge on screening, surveillance and risk management in hazardous jobs - defined as those where cardiovascular disease has the potential to impact the safety of the employee and/or others and the employer has a duty to manage these risks. In addition to emergency workers, hazardous occupations included bus and lorry drivers, pilots, aircrew and astronauts.But the research highlighted that "the lack of consensus or contemporary evidence typically results in decisions being made based on expert opinion. This can result in a lack of consistency in clinical decision-making which is increasingly being challenged, both by employees and employers."The authors said more research was needed to determine the optimal balance between protecting workers and the public while avoiding career-ending false-positive results.For firefighters, cardiovascular disease is the most common cause of death while on duty, a trend that has increased over the last two decades. Heart attacks and sudden cardiac death account for 45 per cent of deaths among fire-fighters while on active duty and primarily occur during fire suppression activities.Review author Dr Iain T. Parsons of the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine, Birmingham, UK said, "If we take the example of firefighters, we know that the act of fire fighting is associated with sudden cardiac death from coronary artery disease. Presently fire services examine cardiovascular fitness, but the tests vary widely by country.""In high hazard occupations, it is very common to apply a minimum physical fitness standard," he continued."Standards of physical fitness and strength have the two distinct advantages. First, ensuring that employees can undertake key physical tasks that are required in their role. And second, that the failure to reach certain physical fitness thresholds will expose undiagnosed health problems (particularly in the cardiopulmonary and musculoskeletal systems) which would be associated with greatly increased risk to the affected individual, their co-workers or members of the public," he said."However, optimal screening or periodic examination should be backed by evidence, and this is lacking presently," said Dr Parsons."Further research is required into when to assess fitness, what additional measures could decrease morbidity or mortality (e.g. electrocardiogram or risk scoring) and what the downsides are of implementing these measures e.g. in terms of cost, false positives and the loss of workforce," he added.Regarding pilots, there is a lack of standardisation surrounding the licensing requirements to ensure air safety."Despite recent efforts to unify standards to improve consensus in cardiovascular risk assessment, diverse approaches exist to evaluate a pilot's risk of [cardiovascular] events," stated the paper."Requirements to report medical conditions to authorities are also variable across regulatory jurisdictions," the researchers said.As for astronauts, the authors predicted that with the advent of commercial space travel and space tourism, the occupational management of astronauts is likely to increase.Dr Parsons said, "It may be that qualified astronauts who are 'mission responsible' for space tourists will require more robust screening as a cardiac event in one with responsibility for relative laymen could be even more catastrophic. However, this would be dependent on the vehicle and planned journey as well as the degree of automation. I would anticipate that future models of safety would be based on the aviation precedence with dual qualified astronauts required per mission."The authors called for collaboration among employers, regulatory bodies and medical societies to provide transparent criteria for occupational screening that balance individual health, patient rights, and public safety.Dr Parsons said, "The most pressing need is to achieve societal standardisation of how to screen and risk manage workers as well as provide an opportunity to provide preventative care so as to keep people employed. In addition, most research in this field has been conducted on men. As women increasingly take on hazardous roles it is crucial that studies examine how best to assess and monitor their cardiovascular risk and ultimately prevent dangerous health issues."( With inputs from ANI )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Home

City

Latest News

Cricket

LT Premium

National

International

Maharashtra

Opinions

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Nagpur

Entertainment

Photos

Business

Technology

Sports

Lifestyle

Social Viral

Lokmat Games

Health

Pahalgam Terror Attack

Tahawwur Rana

IPL 2025

CM Devendra Fadnavis

Mumbai Local

Weather Update

European Society Of Cardiology JournalFOLLOW

European society of cardiology journal, Latest News

Lifestyle :Low glycemic index diet promotes healthier body shape in heart patients, finds study

Eating low glycemic index foods promotes a healthier body shape in individuals with coronary artery disease, according to a study presented at the recent scientific congress of the European Society of Cardiology. ...

Health :Why women are more likely to die after heart attack than men

London, March 20 Women are less likely to receive life-saving treatment for cardiogenic shock than men and thus, ... ...

Health :Shortness of breath heralds worse survival than chest pain for heart attack patients: Study

As per research, 76 per cent of heart attack patients with dyspnoea or fatigue as their main symptom are alive at one year compared to 94 per cent of those with chest pain as the predominant feature. ...

Health :Study finds women more likely to die after heart attack than men

According to new research, women are less likely to receive lifesaving treatment for cardiogenic shock than men. ...

Health :Researchers shed light on importance of standard health check-ups for emergency workers

A team of international researchers recently highlighted the importance of standard health check-ups for emergency workers-- firefighters, police and health staff to avoid heart events at work that might harm themselves or others. ...