Police officers in stressful law enforcement situations are at risk of sudden cardiac death, researchers warned yesterday.
A new study says chasing and arresting suspects together with keeping in training may all trigger heart attacks.
"Law enforcement is a dangerous occupation," say researchers led by Dr Stefanos Kales of Harvard School of Public Health, Massachusetts, USA. The mortality rate among patrol officers in the US is up to five times the national average for private sector employees.
Cardiovascular events may account for about 7% of these fatalities, but this risk "has not been adequately studied", say the team.
So they examined the link between risk of sudden cardiac death and stressful law enforcement work using details of the deaths of over 4,500 police officers across the US between 1984 and 2010.
There were 441 sudden cardiac deaths during this time. It was linked to restraints/altercations in 25% of cases, physical training in 20%, pursuit of suspects in 12%, medical/rescue operations in 8%, routine duties in 23%, and other activities in 11%.
"Compared with routine/non-emergency activities, the risk of sudden cardiac death was 34 to 69 times higher during restraints/altercations, 32 to 51 times higher during pursuits, 20 to 23 times higher during physical training, and six to nine times higher during medical/rescue operations," report the authors.
Full details appeared in The BMJ. The team suggest that stressful activities represent "a sudden increase in cardiovascular demand because of a combination of physical exertion and psychological stress, consistent with ‘fight or flight’ physiology."
They conclude: "Our findings have public health implications and suggest that primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention efforts are needed among law enforcement officers."
Varvarigou, V. et al. Law enforcement duties and sudden cardiac death among police officers in United States: case distribution study. BMJ 19 November 2014 doi: 10.1136/bmj.g6534 [abstract]
Leave a Reply