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Healthcare
Special Issues
Occupational Health and Physical Fitness of Tactical Population
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Special Issue "Occupational Health and Physical Fitness of Tactical Population"

A special issue of Healthcare (ISSN 2227-9032).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2023 | Viewed by 2070

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Luís Miguel Massuça

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. ICPOL Research Center, Higher Institute of Police Sciences and Internal Security, Lisbon, Portugal
2. CIDEFES, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: biomotor abilities; health promotion; tactical fitness and performance
Dr. Vanessa Santos

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. Exercise and Health Laboratory, CIPER, Faculty of Human Kinetics, University of Lisbon, Cruz-Quebrada, Portugal
2. KinesioLab, Research Unit in Human Movement Analysis, Instituto Piaget, 2805-059 Almada, Portugal
Interests: clinical exercise; cardiac rehabilitation; primary and secondary prevention; health promotion; tactical fitness and performance
Dr. Luís Monteiro

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
1. ICPOL Research Center, Higher Institute of Police Sciences and Internal Security, Lisbon, Portugal
2. CIDEFES, Lusófona University, Lisbon, Portugal
Interests: biomotor abilities; strength and conditioning; tactical fitness and performance

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

We are pleased to invite you to provide critical reviews and original research for a Special Issue on the occupational health and physical fitness of Tactical Populations.

Tactical athletes (e.g., law enforcement, military, firefighters) perform some of the most physically demanding jobs in our society and require an appropriate level of fitness as well as specific technical and tactical skills to achieve short- and long-term objectives and eliminate various threats. Although these professions have unique job duties and workplace exposures, tactical athletes have many things in common. A tactical athlete's occupation requires them to be physically prepared for the unknown in order to protect the public. These physically demanding occupational tasks performed by tactical personnel require a high level of cardiovascular fitness as well as muscular strength and endurance. Poor performance in these areas increases the risk of injury and can result in mission failure, loss of life, or an offender evading apprehension. Efforts should be made to base health and fitness assessments on occupational demands unique to both the environment and the requirements of each individual tactical unit.

This Special Issue aims to increase emphasis on the development of evidence-based physical training, strategies to maintain and improve occupational and physical performance, and health implications to reduce the risk of injury and illness in these populations.

In this Special Issue, original research articles and reviews are welcome. Research areas may include (but are not limited to) the following:

  • Occupational tasks;
  • Fitness standards;
  • Physical fitness and task performance;
  • Health and well-being of the tactical population;
  • Testing and evaluation of tactical conditioning.

I/We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Luís Miguel Massuça
Dr. Vanessa Santos
Dr. Luís Monteiro
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Healthcare is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2000 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • biomotor abilities
  • firefighter
  • first responders
  • health
  • law enforcement
  • military
  • occupational health
  • occupational tasks
  • physical fitness
  • police
  • task performance

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

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Article
Comparison of Acute Arterial Responses Following a Rescue Simulation and Maximal Exercise in Professional Firefighters
by
Vanessa Santos
,
Luís Miguel Massuça
,
Luís Monteiro
,
Vítor Angarten
,
Mark G. Abel
,
Bo Fernhall
and
Helena Santa-Clara
Healthcare 2023, 11(7), 1032; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11071032 - 04 Apr 2023
Viewed by 673
Abstract
Cardiovascular events are the leading cause of on-duty deaths among firefighters. Screening firefighters for risk of sudden cardiac event is a critical element of a comprehensive medical program. Although intense physical exertion has been shown to trigger sudden cardiac events in the general [...] Read more.
Cardiovascular events are the leading cause of on-duty deaths among firefighters. Screening firefighters for risk of sudden cardiac event is a critical element of a comprehensive medical program. Although intense physical exertion has been shown to trigger sudden cardiac events in the general population, it is unclear how hemodynamic responses following clinical exercise testing compare to that of performing firefighting tasks in personal protective equipment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare hemodynamic responses following rescue simulation (RS) and maximal exercise in firefighters. This was a cross-over repeated measures study. Thirty-eight professional firefighters (31.8 ± 5.2 yr; VO2peak: 57.9 mL/kg/min) completed a maximal aerobic exercise test (MAET) and an RS. Pulse wave velocity (PWV), pulse pressure (PP), and brachial and central mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured before and 5 and 15 min post-exercise. The findings indicated that femoral PWV decreased after MAET and RS at both time points (p < 0.005). No significant differences were found in aortic and carotid PWV over time or between conditions (p ≥ 0.05). Significant increases in brachial and central PP and MAP were noted 5 min post-MAET and RS (p = 0.004). In conclusion, the present study demonstrated that peripheral arterial stiffness (AS) decreased in firefighters following both conditions, with no differences in central AS. Our findings provide valuable information on hemodynamic responses similar between RS and MAET, and are important for controlling CVD risk and the AS response. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Occupational Health and Physical Fitness of Tactical Population)

Other

Jump to: Research

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Systematic Review
Establishing Reference Data for Fitness Assessment of Law Enforcement Officers Using a Qualitative Systematic Review
by
Luís Miguel Massuça
,
Vanessa Santos
and
Luís Monteiro
Healthcare 2023, 11(9), 1253; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11091253 - 27 Apr 2023
Viewed by 413
Abstract
Physical fitness tests are a standard means of evaluating the competence of police officers. This qualitative review aims (i) to document, compare, and examine the reference values available in the current literature regarding fitness tests for Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), and (ii) to [...] Read more.
Physical fitness tests are a standard means of evaluating the competence of police officers. This qualitative review aims (i) to document, compare, and examine the reference values available in the current literature regarding fitness tests for Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), and (ii) to define reference values for the most used fitness tests to assess and predict police officer performance. A total of 1879 records were collected for review from two major literature databases, PubMed and ScienceDirect. After applying our exclusion criteria, a total of 19 studies were considered. All studies demonstrated acceptable methodological quality in fitness assessment, and the most used components were muscle strength, muscular endurance, muscle power, aerobic and anaerobic capacity, flexibility, and agility. This review provides (i) a methodological definition for the physical fitness assessment that helps select the most used fitness tests, (ii) a standardised methodology for establishing reference data for fitness tests appropriate for LEOs; and (iii) aggregate reference values for selected fitness tests. This may improve selection and retention procedures, considering that this group performs its duties in an environment and under conditions that differ from those of other occupational groups. Complementarily, this qualitative review also provides a foundation for developing effective interventions to improve each aspect of fitness testing for police officers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Occupational Health and Physical Fitness of Tactical Population)
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Systematic Review
Physical Training Programs for Tactical Populations: Brief Systematic Review
by
André Rasteiro
,
Vanessa Santos
and
Luís Miguel Massuça
Healthcare 2023, 11(7), 967; https://doi.org/10.3390/healthcare11070967 - 28 Mar 2023
Viewed by 708
Abstract
This review aims (i) to identify and analyze the physical training programs used for tactical personnel (TP) and (ii) to understand the effects of physical training programs on the health and fitness, and occupational performance of tactical personnel. A literature search used the [...] Read more.
This review aims (i) to identify and analyze the physical training programs used for tactical personnel (TP) and (ii) to understand the effects of physical training programs on the health and fitness, and occupational performance of tactical personnel. A literature search used the keywords ‘Physical Training Program’, ‘Police’, ‘Law Enforcement’, and ‘Firefighter’. A total of 23 studies out of 11.508 analyzed were included. All studies showed acceptable methodological quality in assessing physical fitness (PF), and training programs’ effect sizes (Cohen’s d) on PF attributes were calculated. The results showed that physical training programs (duration > four weeks) can improve (medium-to-large effects) (i) measures of physical fitness and (ii) performance in simulations of occupationally specific tasks. This review provides summary information (i) to help select (or adjust) physical training programs for TP and (ii) to clarify the effect of different occupational-specific training interventions on fitness measures and health-related parameters for TP. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Occupational Health and Physical Fitness of Tactical Population)
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