IDENTIFY AND MODEL FIREFIGHTER LOWER EXTREMITY POSTURES

Abstract

Firefighting is associated with high rates of musculoskeletal (MSK) injury. Overexertion is the most common source of MSK injury among firefighters. Evaluation of how tasks are performed can identify injury risks. Use of video-based software can help quantify firefighter tasks, but requires accuracy despite complex movement and equipment/clothing interfering with line of sight. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe hip and knee joint motion performance while lifting a high-rise pack (HRP) from floor to shoulder and to determine the relationship between hip joint displacement and isolated hip and knee joint angles. All the tasks were captured and measured as part of a larger FIREWELL study involving a total of 48 active firefighters. The kinematic information was extracted with the Dartfish© program using angle tracking and positional coordinates methods. The results of the current study indicate that lifting a high-rise pack involves a knee arc of motion of 84 ⁰ (SD = 29⁰) for the left side and 96 ⁰ (SD = 33⁰) for the right side. Displacement of the hip joint may be useful to estimate knee motion where angle measurements cannot be reliably obtained. The need to normalize displacement by height remains unclear. Future studies on video capture methods should focus on the a) reliability, b), ability to potential measure for change, c) predictive value of different movement indicators in task retraining videos.