Table 3.
Firefighting experience of active female firefighter survey respondents in the US and Canada, by country and injury status.
| Entire US sample (n = 772) | All injuries in the US (n = 554) | No injuries in the US (n = 218) | Entire Canada sample (n = 388) | All injuries in Canada (n = 188) | No injuries in Canada (n = 200) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mean (SD) or Median (Q1, Q3) | Mean (SD) or Median (Q1, Q3) | Mean (SD) or Median (Q1, Q3) | Mean (SD) or Median (Q1, Q3) | Mean (SD) or Median (Q1, Q3) | Mean (SD) or Median (Q1, Q3) | |
| Age | 41.1 (9.5) | 42.8 (9.2) | 37.0 (8.9) | 39.2 (9.6) | 41.8 (8.7) | 36.8 (9.8) |
| BMI | 26.5 (4.8) | 26.9 (5.0) | 25.3 (3.9) | 24.4 (4.1) | 26.0 (3.9) | 25.1 (4.3) |
| Years in fire service | 15 (7, 22) | 17 (10, 23) | 8 (3, 17) | 10 (4, 17) | 12.5 (6, 18) | 6 (3, 13) |
| Estimated career firesa | 40 (15, 150) | 60 (20, 200) | 20 (10, 50) | 30 (15, 80) | 50 (20, 100) | 20 (7, 50) |
| Estimated toxic exposuresa | 6 (1.5, 27.5) | 10 (2, 50) | 4 (0, 10) | 4 (1, 14) | 5 (2, 20) | 2 (0, 10) |
| N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | N (%) | |
| Took leave of absence | 204 (26) | 162 (29) | 42 (19) | 123 (32) | 74 (39) | 49 (25) |
| Department | ||||||
| Career | 593 (77) | 437 (79) | 156 (72) | 231 (60) | 132 (70) | 99 (50) |
| Career/Volunteer | 151 (20) | 106 (19) | 45 (21) | 69 (18) | 31 (16) | 38 (19) |
| Volunteer | 19 (2) | 7 (1) | 12 (6) | 64 (16) | 20 (11) | 44 (22) |
| Other | 9 (1) | * | 5 (2) | 24 (6) | 5 (3) | 19 (1) |
| Most recent rank b | ||||||
| Firefighter | 453 (59) | 292 (53) | 161 (74) | 304 (78) | 143 (76) | 161 (81) |
| Paramedic | 250 (32) | 187 (34) | 63 (29) | 20 (5) | 14 (7) | 6 (3) |
| Company/Station officer | 172 (22) | 142 (26) | 30 (14) | 59 (15) | 37 (20) | 22 (11) |
| Driver/Engineer | 146 (19) | 111 (20) | 35 (16) | 45 (12) | 31 (16) | 14 (7) |
| EMT | 172 (22) | 92 (17) | 80 (37) | 16 (4) | 8 (4) | 8 (4) |
| Chief officer/Superintendent | 68 (9) | 54 (10) | 14 (6) | 13 (3) | 5 (3) | 8 (4) |
| Master technician | 6 (1) | 0 (0) | 6 (3) | * | 0 (0) | * |
| Other | 43 (6) | 29 (5) | 14 (6) | 52 (13) | 25 (13) | 27 (14) |
| Most recent assignment | ||||||
| Engine | 423 (55) | 294 (53) | 129 (59) | 192 (49) | 98 (52) | 94 (47) |
| Truck (Ladder/Aerial) | 59 (8) | 46 (8) | 13 (6) | 39 (10) | 17 (9) | 22 (11) |
| EMS unit (Ambulance) | 89 (12) | 60 (11) | 29 (13) | 8 (2) | 6 (3) | * |
| Special operations/Rescue | 12 (2) | 10 (2) | * | 31 (8) | 14 (7) | 17 (9) |
| HazMat unit | 9 (1) | 6 (1) | * | 5 (1) | * | * |
| Other | 180 (23) | 138 (25) | 42 (19) | 111 (29) | 50 (27) | 61 (31) |
a
Responses over 16,000 were excluded.
b
Questions in which participants could select multiple answers.
*
Fewer than 5 respondents.