Psychophysiological responses in experienced firefighters undertaking repeated self-contained breathing apparatus tasks

Abstract

Mark (2014) Psychophysiological responses in experienced firefighters undertaking repeated self-contained breathing apparatus tasks. Ergonomics, 57 (12). pp. 1898 -1906 . ISSN 1366 Published by: Taylor Northumbria University has developed Northumbria Research Link (NRL) to enable users to access the University's research output. Copyright © and moral rights for items on NRL are retained by the individual author(s) and/or other copyright owners. Single copies of full items can be reproduced, displayed or performed, and given to third parties in any format or medium for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-profit purposes without prior permission or charge, provided the authors, title and full bibliographic details are given, as well as a hyperlink and/or URL to the original metadata page. The content must not be changed in any way. Full items must not be sold commercially in any format or medium without formal permission of the copyright holder. The full policy is available online: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/policies.html This document may differ from the final, published version of the research and has been made available online in accordance with publisher policies. To read and/or cite from the published version of the research, please visit the publisher's website (a subscription may be required.) exercises. This study has shown high cardiovascular demand regardless of environmental temperatures; no significant changes in mood constructs, and no differences in self-reported measures of demands between the tasks.

An Examination of Subjective and Objective Measures of Stress in Tactical Populations: A Scoping Review

“…Five studies were from Finland [ 33 , 40 , 41 , 51 , 52 ], three from Japan [ 31 , 32 , 48 ], two from Australia [ 23 , 30 ] and two from Canada [ 44 , 53 ]. One study each came from Germany [ 20 ], Norway [ 27 ], France [ 36 ], Italy [ 42 ], Brazil [ 55 ] (also affiliated with the USA), the United Kingdom [ 56 ], and Iran [ 57 ].…”

“…Three tactical subpopulations were represented: the largest being military populations, with 26 articles. Twelve studies followed fire or rescue personnel [ 20 , 29 , 30 , 33 , 34 , 36 , 42 , 43 , 48 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. Three studies followed police officers [ 22 , 32 , 37 ], while one investigated police recruits [ 44 ].…”

“…In police officers, researchers also examined the stress response to high fidelity simulation of policing events [ 44 ] and the effects of personal protective equipment during an occupational physical ability test (OPAT) [ 37 ]. Additionally, in firefighters, multiple live-fire training scenarios were investigated both with and without personal protective equipment (PPE) and self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA) masks [ 29 , 30 , 34 , 36 , 42 , 43 , 55 , 56 , 57 ]. Military personnel were examined during combat simulations [ 24 , 26 , 46 , 47 , 49 , 50 , 62 , 63 ], cargo flights and parachute jumps [ 21 , 25 , 31 , 45 ], underwater evacuation training [ 54 ], selection courses [ 27 , 28 , 35 , 39 ], and longer term (5+ days in length) military field training [ 15 , 16 , 23 , 38 , 40 , 41 , 51 , 52 , 53 , 64 ].…”

Inter-Rater and Intra-Rater Reliability of Return-to-Work Screening Tests for UK Firefighters Following Injury

“…For example, the physical screening test used for recruitment of firefighters does not include all tasks involved during operational duties, including hose running and ladder carry [ 1 , 16 ]. Instead, UK firefighter selection tests were designed to help identify applicants physically suited to roles within UK fire and rescue services [ 17 ] and then once employed, individuals are trained in more specific tasks related to their firefighting role [ 18 ]. If operational tasks are unable to be completed effectively in emergency situations, a firefighter could put themselves at risk of danger, their operational colleagues and members of the public [ 19 ].…”

The influence of designs of protective uniforms on firefighters’ performance during moderate physical exercises

“…11 The physiological strain was considerable due to the combination of physical work and heat stress. Usually, the test battery utilized in wear trials is composed of occupation-related activities, which are moving around the accident scene, handling heavy equipment, dragging ropes, firehoses, casualties, giving assistance to casualties, 12–17 and also walking, lifting and bending the arms, kneeling, crawling, ladder climbing, etc., while wearing PPC and equipment. 18–22 Therefore, it is worth considering whether a lower impact, moderate physical exercise, apart from fast walking, should be utilized in the test battery to measure the small differences in the uniform designs’ impact on subjects’ performance.…”