Effect of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack on a State Highway Patrol Trooper's Heart Rate Variability
Authors: Michael Riediker1; Margaret C. Herbst1; Robert B. Devlin2; Thomas R. Griggs; Philip A. Bromberg1; Wayne E. Cascio
Source: Annals of Noninvasive Electrocardiology, Volume 10, Number 1, January 2005 , pp. 83-85(3)
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing
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Abstract:
Background: On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the United States. By coincidence, a North Carolina highway patrol trooper was wearing an ambulatory ECG Holter monitor at this time as part of an air pollution study. Methods: Heart rate variability parameters were analyzed: standard deviation of normal to normal beat intervals (SDNN) and percentage of interval differences >50 ms (PNN50). Results: The trooper's heart rate variability changed immediately after learning about the terrorist attacks. Heart rate increased and PNN50 decreased, while SDNN increased strongly. Conclusions: These changes suggest strong emotional sympathetic stress associated with parasympathetic withdrawal in response to the news about the terrorist attack. A.N.E. 2005;10(1):83–85Keywords: electrocardiography, ambulatory; stress, psychological; heart rate variability; human; adult
Document Type: Case report
DOI: 10.1111/j.1542-474X.2005.00612.x
Affiliations: 1: Center for Environmental Medicine, Asthma and Lung Biology School of Medicine, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC 2: U.S. EPA, ORD, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratories, Research Triangle Park, NC
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