So it came to my attention a provisional change in the NFPA 1582 medical standard for the 2013 ed.

Listed as a Class A medical condition.

Heart Transplant.
Substantiation: Heart transplant does allow the heart to display
normal chronotropic response (I.e. cannot increase heart rate
appropriately with physical exertion) and this increases the risk for
syncope and prevents restoration of aerobic capacity to acceptable
levels. Furthermore, many of the immunosupprissive agents required to
prevent rejection are lifelong medications that increases risk for
infection and may lead to adrenal suppression. Heart transplant
compromises the candidate's abillty to safely perform essential job
tasks.



Now I will point out non normal or delayed chronotropic response can effect anyone yet it is not listed as a Class A medical condition only the transplant is. Which not all transplants suffer delayed chronotropic response. In fact most dont suffer any delay after the first year post transplant.

Also note Heart transplant is a surgery not a medical condition. Increased risk for anything is not a medical condition either. By they way its written there it could mean if you have a family history of ______. You are now at higher risk for that so you can no longer safely preform the job functions of a firefighter.

There are heart transplant pts. That have hiked K2, run Ironman triathlons (140.3 mile race) , any other kind of high cardio actively you can think of, and even a few are firefighters.


What are your guys' thoughts on this?