Iranian Journal of Ergonomics

Introduction: Firefighting is amongst jobs that require high physical strength and high aerobic capacity. These are required because of the nature and the physical demands of the job. The maximum aerobic capacities of firefighters were investigated using the step test.

Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 73 firefighters. At first, demographic information was collected by a questionnaire. Then, the step was built with adjustable height, for step testing, and using the Francis method, maximum aerobic capacity of the participants, was studied. The results of the questionnaire and step test were analyzed by the SPSS 16 software.

Results: maximum aerobic capacity of firefighters was calculated as 3.65 L/min and 47.4 mL/kgmin. Moreover, the results of statistical analysis revealed a significant relationship between body mass index and exercise, and maximum aerobic capacity (P ˂ 0.05). Also no significant relationship was found between maximum aerobic capacity, age, smoking and work-related fatigue (P > 0.05).

Conclusions: Studying the firefighters cardiorespiratory capacity, to reduce the probability of firefighters injuries is very important due to occupational sensitivity and having to perform difficult tasks under demanding circumstances. The results of this study showed that maximal oxygen uptake (vo2 max) and cardiopulmonary capacity of examined firefighters are greater than the minimum amount recommended by the international association of firefighters, which can be due to regular physical fitness programs conducted by the organization.