Dehydration, poor nutrition, inadequate fitness, physical hard work, and insufficient rest prior to turn out often leads to fatigue. Fatigue leads to exhaustion, and exhaustion leads to impaired judgment and bad descision making which is usually followed by injury or worse... death.
When are we most likely to see fatigue on the fireground? Firefighter fatigue is at its absolute worst during overhaul. Common sense says we need to maintain vigilance for potential problems with firefighters during this time.
Here are some additional things to keep in mind:
-Be mindful of hydration & nutrition strategies during work.
-Use recovery strategies between shifts.
-Add interval training to your workouts which helps you develop the anaerobic capacity needed to resist the inevitable fatigue that is part of this job.
