Firefighting: Challenges of Smart PPE

Abstract

The continuous research and development regarding firefighters’ personal protective equipment (PPE) has led to significant improvements in recent decades. Despite the evolution of firefighters’ PPE, every year an undesirable number of firefighters are seriously burned during firefighting operations, with some of them eventually losing their lives. The protection given by firefighters’ PPE can be further increased with the incorporation of smart textiles in the personal protective equipment, namely, wearable electronics (i.e., integrated sensors to monitor diverse parameters: heart rate, oxygen saturation, carbon dioxide detector, and setting real-time communication with a command post) and advanced materials such as phase change materials (PCMs). The evolution of firefighters’ PPE has been followed by an evolution and update in the international and national standards that specify performance requirements for firefighters’ protective clothing for structural and wildland firefighting as well as technical rescue. This study will focus on the analysis of firefighters protective clothing evolution regarding the use and integration of advanced smart materials, namely, phase change materials, taking into consideration the evolution and requirements of international and European standards as well as national legislation for firefighters’ protective clothing.

Assessment of Thermal Performance of Phase-Change Material-Based Multilayer Protective Clothing Exposed to Contact and Radiant Heat

“…Both in very low and very high ambient temperatures, an important problem is to simultaneously ensure effective protection against the harmful effects of the cold/heat and ensure the ergonomics of clothing [20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30]. This clothing is usually made of thick, multi-layered textile systems, which significantly reduces the user's freedom of movement and prevents him from effective and precise work [31]; in addition, during intense physical exertion, these garments often become wet due to the secretion of sweat by the wearer, which in turn reduces their thermal insulation and increases the feeling of discomfort [32][33][34][35][36][37]. Figure 1 shows a schematic comparison of the PCM vs. non-PCM heating process.…”

Smart Firefighters PPE: Impact of Phase Change Materials

“…According to firefighter surveys, enhancing clothing design and incorporating active thermal underwear are desired improvements [2,3]. Furthermore, several approaches to improving the thermal protection of firefighter clothing have been adopted to monitor parameters in real time (e.g., wearable electronics [4]) or to react to the heat source, such as phase change materials (PCMs) [5,6]. PCMs are materials capable of storing and releasing thermal energy during phase transitions in the form of latent heat [7][8][9].…”

“…To integrate high amounts of PCMs in firefighter protective clothing, Santos et al [6] proposed using pouches filled with microencapsulated PCMs. Using microencapsulated PCMs provides several benefits in various applications, including firefighting clothing [5,15]. Firstly, it enhances the stability and durability of PCMs by protecting them from leakage or degradation.…”

“…In our previous work [5], a new PCM-vest comprised individual PCM pouches. The vest design followed the SUCAM procedures [16] and eco-design, but its thermal protective efficiency and performance were not assessed.…”