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VICTORIA - Coffee, North America's favourite black liquid, earned a black mark this week when researchers found that caffeine could distort firefighters' judgment, raise their core body temperature and increase their oxygen intake in a firefighting environment.
"We have to look at these things very seriously," said Paul Bruce, deputy chief for the Victoria Fire Department.
"Caffeine is something guys would want to stay away from, not only once on shift, but prior to shift as well."
Victoria firefighters who participated in the study demonstrated higher core body temperatures, distorted perception of their level of fatigue and used up more of their air supply when given doses of caffeine equivalent to about two to three cups of coffee, during the study.
University of Victoria researcher Mikhail Kellawan, 25, says coffee is a big part of firehall culture.
"You go into a firehall, and the first thing they do is offer you a cup," Kellawan says. "The minute a cup is empty, someone fills it up."
That led Kellawan and Lynneth Stuart-Hill, 41, occupational physiology researcher at the University of Victoria, to question the impact all that caffeine would have in a firefighting situation.
They put firefighters through exercise simulations in standard firefighting gear, which is designed to keep heat out and trap body heat inside the gear. This alone can dangerously increase core body temperature, which can cause kidney and liver damage and stress the cardiovascular system.
What's worse is that caffeine dulled the firefighters' ability to gauge their own performance.
That means they felt less fatigued and would continue to work even when they were entering a state of physiological strain, putting them in more danger.
"A firefighter might say he feels fine and keep functioning with high body core temperatures," Stuart-Hill explains. That could lead to collapse.
The study found that firefighters used up about 10 per cent more air from their tanks when they were on caffeine versus the placebo. That translates to losing almost five minutes in a 30-minute period.
In a burning building, that amount of time is critical, Bruce said.
No ruling will be made on whether the coffee pots at the firehall will be filled with caffeinated or decaffeinated coffee, but firefighters will be made aware of the study findings.
"The fact that they're using more air is a concern," Bruce said, noting that oxygen tanks have recently been doubled in capacity. The amount of time the firefighter works in a heat environment, however, has not been increased. "We look at this as a way to ensure they have enough time to exit the site," Bruce said.
Kellawan says firefighters don't have to give up their caffeine hit, just moderate it. "Maybe after having that second cup of coffee, they might think of switching to decaf," Kellawan says.
Joanne Hatherly, Canwest News Service
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