Accuracy of Tympanic Temperature Measurement in Firefighters Completing a Simulated Structural Firefighting Task

Keene, Toby; Brearley, Matt; Bowen, Beth; Walker, Anthony

doi:10.1017/s1049023x15005038

Cited by 9 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 28 publications

(51 reference statements)

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“…Five studies analyzed the potential of in-ear T measurements for occupational medicine for prevention of heat illness (Nagano et al, 2010 ; Lee et al, 2011 ; Pryor et al, 2012 ; Keene et al, 2015 ; Nakada et al, 2017 ). The studies reported controversial results.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Nagano et al showed that tympanic T, measured by a thermocouple probe with tight sealing in the ear canal, closely tracked both esophageal and rectal T with slight underestimation during simulated rest-work cycles at increasing environmental T (Nagano et al, 2010 ). IR tympanic probes underestimated core T obtained by gastrointestinal pills in firefighters performing work in heat chambers (bias ranging from 1.3 ± 0.5°C to 1.0 ± 0.8°C when entering the chamber and following exercise) (Keene et al, 2015 ) and during exercise with thermal protective clothing in a warm room (Pryor et al, 2012 ). By using a telemetry system consisting of an ear probe with IR sensor technology, a transmitter, and a wireless data receiver, Lee and co-workers showed an overall high level of agreement between tympanic and rectal T, both at rest and during exercise conditions, in healthy volunteers, although bias varied with clothing levels.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Hearables: New Perspectives and Pitfalls of In-Ear Devices for Physiological Monitoring. A Scoping Review

2020

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Technological advancements are opening the possibility of prolonged monitoring of physiological parameters under daily-life conditions, with potential applications in sport science and medicine, and in extreme environments. Among emerging wearable technologies, in-ear devices or hearables possess technical advantages for long-term monitoring, such as non-invasivity, unobtrusivity, good fixing, and reduced motion artifacts, as well as physiological advantages related to the proximity of the ear to the body trunk and the shared vasculature between the ear and the brain. The present scoping review was aimed at identifying and synthesizing the available evidence on the use and performance of in-ear monitoring of physiological parameters, with focus on applications in sport science, sport medicine, occupational medicine, and extreme environment settings. Pubmed, Scopus, and Web of Science electronic databases were systematically searched to identify studies conducted in the last 10 years and addressing the measurement of three main physiological parameters (temperature, heart rate, and oxygen saturation) in healthy subjects. Thirty-nine studies were identified, 24 performing temperature measurement, 12 studies on heart/pulse rate, and three studies on oxygen saturation. The collected evidence supports the premise of in-ear sensors as an innovative and unobtrusive way for physiological monitoring during daily-life and physical activity, but further research and technological advancement are necessary to ameliorate measurement accuracy especially in more challenging scenarios.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hearables: New Perspectives and Pitfalls of In-Ear Devices for Physiological Monitoring. A Scoping Review

2020

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“…Inclusion in the present review was assessed against the following research criteria prior to data analysis; original research on human participants, body heat storage induced by physical activity, minimum pre-treatment T c of 38.2 °C reflecting the lowest anticipated T c during arduous emergency responses, minimum of five continuous minutes of immersion, provision of sufficient detail to reproduce methodology and valid T c measurement. Specifically, those studies reporting tympanic temperature data were excluded due to lack of validity [ 24 , 25 ].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Water immersion for post incident cooling of firefighters; a review of practical fire ground cooling modalities

Brearley

Walker

2015

Extrem Physiol Med

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Rapidly cooling firefighters post emergency response is likely to increase the operational effectiveness of fire services during prolonged incidents. A variety of techniques have therefore been examined to return firefighters core body temperature to safe levels prior to fire scene re-entry or redeployment. The recommendation of forearm immersion (HFI) in cold water by the National Fire and Protection Association preceded implementation of this active cooling modality by a number of fire services in North America, South East Asia and Australia. The vascularity of the hands and forearms may expedite body heat removal, however, immersion of the torso, pelvis and/or lower body, otherwise known as multi-segment immersion (MSI), exposes a greater proportion of the body surface to water than HFI, potentially increasing the rates of cooling conferred. Therefore, this review sought to establish the efficacy of HFI and MSI to rapidly reduce firefighters core body temperature to safe working levels during rest periods. A total of 38 studies with 55 treatments (43 MSI, 12 HFI) were reviewed. The core body temperature cooling rates conferred by MSI were generally classified as ideal (n = 23) with a range of ~0.01 to 0.35 °C min−1. In contrast, all HFI treatments resulted in unacceptably slow core body temperature cooling rates (~0.01 to 0.05 °C min−1). Based upon the extensive field of research supporting immersion of large body surface areas and comparable logistics of establishing HFI or MSI, it is recommended that fire and rescue management reassess their approach to fireground rehabilitation of responders. Specifically, we question the use of HFI to rapidly lower firefighter core body temperature during rest periods. By utilising MSI to restore firefighter Tc to safe working levels, fire and rescue services would adopt an evidence based approach to maintaining operational capability during arduous, sustained responses. While the optimal MSI protocol will be determined by the specifics of an individual response, maximising the body surface area immersed in circulated water of up to 26 °C for 15 min is likely to return firefighter Tc to safe working levels during rest periods. Utilising cooler water temperatures will expedite Tc cooling and minimise immersion duration.

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“…To be able to predict whether a firefighter is at risk of overheating is therefore of utmost importance. There are different ways to measure core temperature during physical activity ("A Pill that tracks your core body temperature using bluetooth technology and radio frequency," 2013), (Keene, Brearley, Bowen, & Walker, 2015),("The iDOT Body Temperature Alert Patch," 2011). One of the possibilities is a thermometer pill ("Thermometer Pill' Helps Athletes, Firefighters and Other Beat the Heart," 2006).…”

Section: Heat Stress Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other possibilities to measure core temperature could be an ear thermometer (Keene et al, 2015) or a patch behind the neck ("The iDOT Body Temperature Alert Patch," 2011). We did not choose the ear thermometer because its core temperature measurements are not yet reliable enough because of environmental influences (Keene et al, 2015). The patch behind the neck is also not yet practical for firefighters because it requires very careful placement and isolation of the sensor.…”

Section: Heat Stress Monitoringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moses Health Monitoring System for Firefighters

Zaburnenko¹,

Prins²,

Salomons³

2019

17th International Conference on E-Society 2019

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When firefighting, the combination of exposition to high temperatures, high physical demands and wearing (heavy and insulated) personal protective equipment lead to increased risk of heat stress and exhaustion in firefighters. Heat stress can easily evolve into a life-threatening heat stroke. Once heat stress occurred, the chance of getting another heat stroke during deployment gets higher. Moreover, intermittent exposure to heat stress over several years, is a risk factor for heart diseases. Similarly, exhausted during a deployment, a firefighter needs more time to rehabilitate before he can safely be deployed again. Heat stress and exhaustion can lead to line-of-duty cardiovascular events. Therefore, preventing heat stress and exhaustion during deployment is beneficial for health, functioning and employability of firefighters. Since currently available measurement of the core temperature, such as thermometer pill or neck patch thermometer, are not reliable or practical for firefighters, an alternative approach may be used, namely, estimation of the core temperature based on non-invasive observation of the heart rate. Exhaustion is estimated using the training impulse model based on the heart rate reserve. Our achievement is a MoSeS health monitor system (as a smartphone application) that can real time analyze the health status of a firefighter and predict exhaustion and heat stress during deployment. The system is cheap (only a heart rate sensor and a smartphone application is needed), easy to use (intuitive "traffic light" signal), and objective (the health status is determined based on measurements of the heart rate). The only restriction is that the developed model is strongly dependent on personal maximum and minimum heart rate which need to be established beforehand.

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Accuracy of Tympanic Temperature Measurement in Firefighters Completing a Simulated Structural Firefighting Task

Abstract: Tympanic thermometers cause an unreliable measure of core body temperature for firefighters engaged in fire suppression activities. Accurate and practical measures of core body temperature are required urgently.

Cited by 9 publications

References 28 publications

Hearables: New Perspectives and Pitfalls of In-Ear Devices for Physiological Monitoring. A Scoping Review

Hearables: New Perspectives and Pitfalls of In-Ear Devices for Physiological Monitoring. A Scoping Review

Water immersion for post incident cooling of firefighters; a review of practical fire ground cooling modalities

Moses Health Monitoring System for Firefighters

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