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Readiness for Firefighting: A Heart Transplant Patient’s Quest to Return to Work Warburton, Darren E. R.; Taylor, Arlana; Jamnik, Veronica K.; Gledhill, Norman; Bredin, Shannon S. D.

Abstract

Heart transplantation patients generally demonstrate exercise capacities that are below the minimal standards for firefighting. Therefore, it is unlikely that heart transplantation patients will receive medical and/or employer clearance for active duty. We report a case of a firefighter who sought to return to full-time active duty following heart transplantation. We examined his physiological readiness to return to work during occupation-specific testing. Remarkably, the patient was able to meet the minimal requirements for full active firefighting. This finding provides direct evidence to support the potential of transplant patients returning to active duty in physiologically demanding occupations.

Item Metadata

Title
Readiness for Firefighting: A Heart Transplant Patient’s Quest to Return to Work
Creator
Warburton, Darren E. R.; Taylor, Arlana; Jamnik, Veronica K.; Gledhill, Norman; Bredin, Shannon S. D.
Contributor
University of British Columbia. Cardiovascular Physiology and Rehabilitation Laboratory; University of British Columbia. Physical Activity Promotion and Chronic Disease Prevention Unit; University of British Columbia. Laboratory for Knowledge Mobilization
Publisher
Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute
Date Issued
2019-03-18
Description
Heart transplantation patients generally demonstrate exercise capacities that are below the minimal standards for firefighting. Therefore, it is unlikely that heart transplantation patients will receive medical and/or employer clearance for active duty. We report a case of a firefighter who sought to return to full-time active duty following heart transplantation. We examined his physiological readiness to return to work during occupation-specific testing. Remarkably, the patient was able to meet the minimal requirements for full active firefighting. This finding provides direct evidence to support the potential of transplant patients returning to active duty in physiologically demanding occupations.
Subject
Transplantation; Cardiac rehabilitation; Return to work; Physically demanding occupations; Bona fide fitness requirements
Genre
Article
Type
Text
Language
eng
Date Available
2019-04-15
Provider
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
Rights
CC BY 4.0
DOI
10.14288/1.0378223
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/2429/69693
Affiliation
Education, Faculty of; Other UBC; Non UBC; Kinesiology, School of
Citation
Journal of Clinical Medicine 8 (3): 378 (2019)
Publisher DOI
10.3390/jcm8030378
Peer Review Status
Reviewed
Scholarly Level
Faculty
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Aggregated Source Repository
DSpace

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CC BY 4.0