Health Status and Mental Health of Forest Fire Volunteers in Chiang Mai Province 2023-2024: Cross-Sectional study

Abstract

This cross-sectional study aimed to investigate the health and mental health status of forest fire volunteers in Chiang Mai Province during the forest fire season. The sample group consisted of 349 forest fire volunteers in Chiang Mai Province, selected through multi-stage random sampling. The research instruments used in this study were questionnaires, including a general information questionnaire for forest fire volunteers, a questionnaire on forest fire volunteer work, a questionnaire on health conditions during firefighting operations in Chiang Mai, and a mental health assessment during firefighting duties using the standard Thai GHQ-12 questionnaire developed by the Department of Mental Health. Data collection was conducted from November to December 2024.

The results revealed that the top five health conditions experienced by the volunteers during firefighting operations included body aches and muscle pain such as back pain, shoulder pain, arm pain, leg pain, and foot pain (52.5%), followed by inhalation of smoke/toxic gases (50.4%), eye irritation/redness (47.9%), respiratory tract irritation symptoms such as runny nose, cough, sore throat, laryngitis, or pneumonia (45.3%), and skin rashes or irritation (27.5%). Most of these symptoms were mild and did not interfere with daily life. The mental health assessment using the Thai GHQ-12 found that 83.7% were within the normal range, while 16.3% were found to have mental health issues.

Factors associated with the mental health of forest fire volunteers include being from an ethnic group, engaging in physical exercise, the agency under which the volunteers are affiliated, being called to extinguish fires in the middle of the night during the wildfire season after having already gone to sleep, adequacy of sleep during the wildfire season, and health conditions resulting from firefighting operations.

            The study findings highlight the necessity of implementing measures for health surveillance based on the nature of the work, planning tasks during the forest fire suppression season, and providing comprehensive health care for forest fire volunteers before, during, and after operations, in order to mitigate the psychological impact on the volunteers.