USFA: California Firefighter Dies After Training

US Fire Administration

The US Fire Administration has announced the official line of duty death of Firefighter/Paramedic James M. Owen, 56, of the Orange County Fire Authority on September 16, 2010.

Firefighter/Paramedic Owen was participating in multi-company training at the Orange County Fire Authority Regional Fire Operations Training Center when he fell ill. Crews on scene immediately rendered care and while being assessed Owen went into a full cardiac arrest.

Advanced Life Support care was initiated and Firefighter Owen was transported to Western Medical Center in Santa Ana where he passed away from a cause still to be reported.

Funeral Arrangements:
Information on funeral services will be announced as soon as it becomes available.

Memorial Fund Contact and Address:
Pending.

Tribute is being paid to Firefighter/Paramedic James M. Owen at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/

To date, 58 firefighter fatalities have been reported to USFA in 2010; 56 from incidents that occurred in 2010 and 2 from previous year incidents. Year-to-date monthly and annual USFA firefighter fatality reports are posted online at http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/fireservice/fatalities/statistics/ff_stats....

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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on September 17, 2010 at 1:07pm

First off, my condolences for the family, friends and fellow firefighters who knew James. 56 years of age... that's how old I am, and one of my concerns and decisions to retire at age 55 was my realization that unless you promote to a chief officer position or get a staff job for those working full time, anyone working past the age of 55 is taking a risk and you have to ask yourself, is it worth it?

Having a near miss myself, and understanding the importance of using a Bodyscan to determine whether further study is indicated for things like coronary artery compromise, aortic aneurisms and other things that cannot be easily detected. For myself, what is called the "widowmaker" was found in my left anterior coronary artery. Turns up that it was not blocked up as much as the Bodyscan indicated but it did give me enough incentive to loose over 50 pounds and eat a hell of a lot healthier.

In my opinion, making use of a Bodyscan, which uses MRI imaging equipment to look inside your head, neck and chest, areas that can be screened for problems makes sense and has proven over and over to be a significant impact on peoples mortality rates.

I do caution you to understand that the mobile scanners and bodyscan business uses 15 year old technology that takes a "picture" every 2.5 cm. "Proprietary" software is used to join the pictures together, creating your Bodyscan imaging. The problem here is that if you have something like plaque buildup in your coronary artery, the "stretching" of the image makes the problem a lot worse than it is, creating over 90% false positives. However, it still gives you a heads up to check something out in advance.

For me, diet, weight loss and medications have proven very effective but it started with my taking the initiative. For myself, it was covered 100% through my insurance through the Los Angeles Fire Department. Hopefully, your insurance also covers the procedure and interpretation by a radiologist.

If more people took this proactive approach, specially those over 50 years of age, then perhaps we might prevent tragic losses like this one from occurring.

Fraternally,

Mike Schlags
mschlags@gmail.com