A Formative Examination of the Health and Safety of Female Firefighters

描述（由申请人提供）：消防员/急救人员对公共卫生安全至关重要，他们代表着全国200多万人。由于消防队员几乎需要应对国内所有紧急情况，因此人们普遍认为，他们的健康和准备特别重要。此外，存在范围广泛的职业暴露，对消防员的健康产生负面影响。虽然消防员健康领域在过去十年中有所发展，但女性消防员的健康状况在很大程度上仍未得到检查。类似的职业群体，如军队，已经制定了重点方案，以了解与工作有关的对妇女健康的独特挑战；然而，消防部门的研究对这个话题保持相对沉默。这种信息的缺乏可能导致消防部门招募和保留女性的比率非常低。虽然工作场所的骚扰等挑战已被确定为女性消防员关注的问题，但情绪压力之外的健康问题得到的关注有限。轶事证据表明，由于标准作业程序和准则没有考虑到女性特征的差异，诸如生殖健康、不合适的装备以及工伤等问题是阻碍妇女担任消防员的障碍。军队是一个在工作任务、环境和以男性为主的传统方面类似的群体，通过制定针对性别的重点研究方案，成功地将女性健康作为优先事项。尽管存在巨大的文化障碍，但军队在招募和留住女性人员方面取得了成功，其速度远远超过了美国消防部门。在这个拟议的项目中，我们将使用多方法研究设计来检查女性消防员的健康和安全问题。此外，这项研究将查明妨碍征聘和保留妇女从事消防工作的因素。R21开发应用程序的独特优势包括来自最大的以妇女为重点的国家消防服务组织的大力支持，以及一个在消防员健康研究方面有成功记录的调查小组。本形成性研究的研究将分三个阶段进行，包括：1)以全国女性消防员为样本的焦点小组，以及对男性和女性消防意见领袖的关键信息提供者访谈；2)与选择提前退休的女消防员进行关键信息提供者访谈，以确定这一人群中保留的障碍；3)对女消防员样本进行流行病学调查，以确定当前健康状况和多个领域的健康问题。这项创新研究是解决美国消防部门性别不平等问题的关键一步，并为这一研究不足的职业群体确定干预和预防领域。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Firefighters/EMS personnel are vital for public health safety, representing over two million individuals nationally. Because firefighters are required to respond to almost every domestic emergency, there is wide agreement that their health and readiness is of particular importance. Furthermore, a broad range of occupational exposures exist that negatively impact the health of firefighters. While the field of firefighter health has enjoyed growth over the past decade, the health of female firefighters remains largely unexamined. Similar occupational groups, such as the military, have developed focused programs to understand the unique work-related challenges to women's health; however, research in the fire service has remained relatively silent on the topic. This dearth of informatio likely contributes to the remarkably low rates of females recruited and retained by the fire service. While challenges such as harassment in the workplace have been identified as concerns for female firefighters, health concerns beyond emotional stress have received limited attention. Anecdotal evidence suggests that issues such as reproductive health, ill-fitting gear, and on-the-job injuries attributable to standard operating procedures and guidelines that do not accommodate differences in female characteristics are barriers to women serving as firefighters. The military, a similar population with regard to work task, environment, and a tradition of being primarily male, has been successful in making female health a priority through the development of a focused program of gender specific research. Despite significant cultural barriers, the armed forces have been successful in recruitment and retention of female personnel at a rate that far exceeds the US fire service. In this proposed project, we will use a multi-methods research design to examine health and safety issues among female firefighters. In addition, this study will identify factors which serve as barriers to recruitment and retention of women in the fire service. Unique strengths of this R21 developmental application include strong support from the largest national fire service organization focusing on women and an investigative team with a documented history of successful research on the health of firefighters. Research for this formative research will be conducted in three phases including: 1) focus groups with a national sample of female firefighters, and key informant interviews with male and female fire service opinion leaders; 2) key informant interviews with female firefighters who have chosen early retirement to determine barriers to retention among this population and 3) an epidemiological survey of a sample of female firefighters to determine current health status and health concerns across a number of domains. This innovative study is a critical step in addressing gender inequity of the US Fire Service and identifying areas of intervention and prevention for this understudied occupational group. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: The US fire service serves as the front line of defense against any domestic emergency, often with negative consequences for the health of firefighters. While research on occupational risk factors in firefighters has received increased attention over the past decade, female firefighters' unique health concerns have largely been ignored and this dearth of knowledge likely contributes to the remarkably low number of female firefighters. By exploring barriers to health and wellness among female firefighters through accessing the perspectives of both firefighters and key fire service leadership, as well as conducting a national survey of health concerns, this study will be the first to address significant knowledge gaps about women who play a key role as first responders in ensuring public safety.