Evaluación de la actividad física del personal operativo del cuerpo de bomberos del cantón Pujilí

Abstract

The objective of this research is to evaluate the level of physical activity and cardiorespiratory capacity of the operative personnel of the Pujilí Fire Department. In several investigations it has been determined that maintaining high levels of physical activity, such as a VO2 max. higher than 42 ml/min/kg, an adequate weight and BMI are necessary indicators for firefighters to be able to overcome the physical demands of their profession. The methodology applied was prospective, with a qualitative-quantitative, cross-sectional approach. The study population was 20 firefighters with an age range of 20-60 years. The International Physical Activity Questionnaire IPAQ in its short version and the Quenns College Step Test were used, for the application of the evaluations the informed consent of each of the participants was obtained, the results indicated that 40% of the participants presented a moderate level of physical activity, followed by 35% with high and only 25% low, with respect to cardiorespiratory capacity was found excellent in 40% of the population, while 35% showed good, between 10% recorded superior and the other 10% of the participants had regular capacity; only 5% indicated poor, according to VO2 max. According to VO2 max, men showed a better average of 48.42 ml/kg/min, while women showed a lower average of 46.72 ml/kg/min. Therefore, the level of physical activity that predominated in most of the participants was moderate and their cardiorespiratory capacity was excellent; therefore, the levels obtained can change through the application of specific physical conditioning programs in firefighters