Medical events during the 2009 Los Angeles County Station Fire: lessons for wildfire EMS planning.

AbstractBackground. Little is known about the types of injuries and medical problems encountered by fire department personnel during suppression of large campaign-type wildland fires. Such information could help to plan for response to medical incidents during future wildfires. Objective. To describe the injuries and medical problems experienced by firefighters during the 2009 Los Angeles County Station Fire. Methods. This was a retrospective analysis of case records of patients treated during the Los Angeles County Station Fire. Data were abstracted from two sources: the incident command medical tracking sheet and prehospital patient care reports (PCRs). Results. The sample included 183 patient contacts, of which PCRs were available for 65. For the remaining 118 patients, data were abstracted from the incident command medical tracking sheet. The most common chief complaint was extremity injury, accounting for 44 patient contacts (24% of all patients), with smoke inhalation second, at 32 patient contacts ...