Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 Apr 1;64(4):340-349.
doi: 10.1097/JOM.0000000000002429. Epub 2021 Nov 5.

The Validity and Reliability of a Treadmill Test for Structural Firefighter Applicants

Michael P Scarlett  1 , Cameron M Ehnes, Eric M Adams, Randy W Dreger, Stewart R Petersen
Affiliations

The Validity and Reliability of a Treadmill Test for Structural Firefighter Applicants

Michael P Scarlett et al. J Occup Environ Med. .

Abstract

Objective: This 2-part study evaluated validity and reliability of a treadmill test for structural firefighters.

Methods: Wearing fire protective ensemble, 260 participants walked at 1.56 m·s-1, completing a 5-min warm-up, an 8-min stage at a 5.71° incline, then graded stages to exhaustion. In Part 2, 21 participants completed the test on 3 separate days under standardized conditions.

Results: Average (±SD) oxygen uptake () during minutes 1-13 was similar to reported values for simulated fire-rescue work. During the 13th min, was consistent with recommendations for firefighters. in Part 2, exercise duration increased between trials 1 and 2 before stabilizing but was consistent.

Conclusions: Congruence with reported during simulated firefighting and recommendations for confirmed validity. Acceptable test-retest reliability was demonstrated. We conclude that the test is valid and reliable for evaluating cardiorespiratory endurance for firefighting.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

References

    1. Cheung SS, Petersen SR, McLellan TM. Physiological strain and countermeas-ures with firefighting. Scand J Med Sci Sports 2010; 20: (suppl 3): 103–116.
    1. Barr D, Gregson W, Reilly T. The thermal ergonomics of firefighting reviewed. Appl Ergon 2010; 41:161–172.
    1. O’Connell ER, Thomas PC, Cady LD, Karwasky RJ. Energy costs of simulated stair climbing as a job- related task in fire fighting. J Occup Med 1986; 28:282–284.
    1. Gledhill N, Jamnik VK. Development and validation of a fitness screening protocol for firefighter applicants. Can J Sport Sci 1992; 17:199–206.
    1. Bilzon JLJ, Scarpello EG, Smith CV, Ravenhill NA, Rayson MP. Characterization of the metabolic demands of simulated shipboard Royal Navy fire-fighting tasks. Ergonomics 2001; 44:766–780.

LinkOut - more resources