Physiological Strains of Wearing Aluminized and Non-aluminized Firefighters’ Protective Clothing during Exercise in Radiant Heat

Abstract

This study examined the influences of aluminized (Type A) and non-aluminized firefighters' protective clothing (Type B, C, D and CON) on physiological and subjective responses in radiant heat. Total clothing weight was 6.24, 6.38, 6.06, 5.76 and 3.82 kg for Type A, B, C, D and CON, respectively. Eight firefighters performed exercise at an air temperature of 30°C with 50%RH. Three bouts of 10 min-bicycle exercise in radiant heat (a globe temperature of 70°C) was spaced by a 10 min rest with no radiant heat. Results showed that rectal temperature, mean skin temperature, heart rate, and body weight loss were significantly greater in Type A than in other types (p<0.05). For Type A, thermal gradient of the body reached 0.0 ± 0.7°C, heart rate showed a maximum level of 183 ± 11 bpm and 1.9% of body weight was lost due to sweat secretion. Firefighters felt the hottest and most discomfort in Type A. It appeared that firefighters' thermoregulatory mechanism was severely challenged by wearing aluminized protective clothing during exercise in strong radiant heat. Therefore, it is suggested that the safe upper limits while wearing aluminized firefighters' clothing should be distinguished from those for typical firefighters' protective clothing.

Skin sites to predict deep-body temperature while wearing firefighters’ personal protective equipment during periodical changes in air temperature

“…In response to carrying out heavy tasks while wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) in extreme environments, firefighters' core temperatures increase and occasionally reach deleterious levels (Chou et al 2011;Fahy, LeBlanc, and Molis 2014;Lee et al 2014a;NIOSH 2012). Real-time monitoring of deep body temperature could be suggested as one of the strategies to prevent firefighters' heat-related illness by initiating appropriate actions at an early stage, which is an emerging trend for the next generation of firefighters' personal protective equipment (Lee et al 2014b;Verminck 2014).…”

Effects of firefighters' self-contained breathing apparatus' weight and its harness design on the physiological and subjective responses

“…In general, PPC used by firefighters consists of a flame resistant outer shell and an insulating thermal liner consisting of a moisture barrier and a thermal barrier (Lawson 1996). The material of the outer shell resists ignition when exposed to thermal radiation or direct flame contact (Gagnon 2000) and so prevents burns (Chou et al 2011). The density of multi-layer protective clothing (PC) worn by firefighters ranges from 74 to 597 kg m 73 (Kutlu and Cireli 2005), and the weight of this clothing can exceed 3 kg.…”

Functional Performance of Firefighters After Exposure to Environmental Conditions and Exercise

“…For the standing-in-heat condition (WBGT ¼ 37.568C 6 0.658C), participants stood upright during testing. The WBGT for the 2 heat conditions was selected as an accurate, yet conservative, temperature for the testing that was similar to the temperatures used in previous research [24][25][26] on the fire service. During the intervention, participants were restricted from consuming water as they would be during a firefighting run (or job-related task).…”