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Stressful duties increased sudden cardiac death risk for police officers
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Police officers engaged in stressful law enforcement duties such as suspect pursuits or rescue operations had a greater risk for sudden cardiac death compared with routine patrol duties, according to new study results.
“The most likely explanation for these findings is a sudden increase in cardiovascular demand because of a combination of physical exertion and psychological stress, consistent with ‘fight-or-flight’ physiology,” researchers wrote.
The study focused on 441 sudden cardiac deaths among police officers on duty from 1984 to 2010 using data from the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund and the Officer Down Memorial Page. Age, date of death, location, jurisdiction size and number of officers in the department for each incident were analyzed.
Researchers distinguished whether a situation was routine/nonemergency or nonroutine/stressful. Routine/nonemergency duties included meetings, classroom activities, desk duty or paperwork, escorting, firing range practice, patrol and roll call. Nonroutine/stressful duties included disturbance calls, medical or rescue operations, physical training, restraints or altercations, suspect pursuits, testifying in court and transporting or supervising prisoners.
According to the results, the officers spent an average of 75% of their time in routine situations.
However, 77% of sudden cardiac deaths occurred during nonroutine tasks. Twenty-five percent of deaths occurred when an officer was involved with a restraint or physical altercation, 23% during routine activities, 20% during physical training, 12% during pursuits, 11% during other duties, and 8% during medical and rescue operations.
The risk for sudden cardiac death in nonroutine situations was increased especially during restraints and altercations (RR=40.6; 95% CI, 30.9-53.3), pursuits (RR=25.8; 95% CI, 18.4-36.2), physical training (RR=27.8; 95% CI, 20.9-37.1), and medical and rescue operations (RR=7.36; 95% CI, 4.97-10.9), transporting and supervising prisoners (RR=3.79; 95% CI, 2.27-6.35) and serving a warrant (RR=2.17; 95% CI, 0.95-4.94) compared with routine situations (RR=1).
“Our findings have public health implications and suggest that primary and secondary cardiovascular prevention efforts are needed among law enforcement officers,” researchers said.
In other results, the median age at sudden cardiac death for an officer in a nonroutine situation was 47 years; 2% of sudden cardiac deaths occurred in female officers; and the sudden cardiac death rate among all police fatalities studied was 9% to 10%.
Disclosure: The researchers report no relevant financial disclosures.
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