Analysis of stress and kinematical and physiological demands during firefighters workday
Abstract
The work of firefighters is considered one of the professions with greater physical demands and predisposition to suffer stress, due to the hazardous working conditions and the responsibility with human lives. The aims of the present study were to: (i) describe the kinematical, physiological and stress demands of firefighters, and (ii) compare these demands in relation to the experience years. Eight firefighters from the fire department of Cartagena participated voluntarily, dividing them into two groups: (1) experienced: >12 years (n=4); (2) novels: <7 years (n=4). The registered variables were total acceleration (AcelT), heart rate average (HRavg) and sympathetic-parasympathetic ratio (R-S|Ps). The results shown differences between activities, finding the highest values in sport and exits. In the between-groups comparison, differences in AcelT and HRavg in sport (p<.05), being higher in experienced group; and differences in R-S|Ps in practice and exits with urgency (p<.05), being higher in novels group. In conclusion, the firefighters with less experience suffer greater stress during workday. Therefore, it is necessary the incorporation of qualified staff to design specific training and coping strategies before the resolution of conflicts adapted to the real situation.
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The works and papers that are published in this Journal are subject to the following terms:
1. The Publication Service of the University of Murcia (the publisher) has the Publication Rights (Copyright) to the published papers and works, and favors and permits the reusing of the same under the license indicated in point 2.
© Servicio de Publicaciones, Universidad de Murcia, 2013
2. The papers and works are to be published in the digital edition of the Journal under the license Creative Commons Reconocimiento-No Comercial-Sin Obra Derivada 3.0 España (legal text). The copying, using, spreading, transmitting and publicly displaying of the papers, works or publication are permitted as long as: i) the authors and original sources (Journal, publisher and URL of the publication) are quoted; ii) it is not used for commercial benefit; iii) the existence and specifications of this users license are mentioned.
3. Conditions of Self-Archiving. It is permitted and encouraged that the authors spread electronically the pre-print (before printing) and/or post-print (the revised, evaluated and accepted) versions of their papers or works before their publication since this favors their circulation and early diffusion and therefore can help increase their citation and quotation, and also there reach through the academic community.
