Journal
APPLIED ERGONOMICS
Volume 45, Issue 6, Pages 1433-1438Publisher
ELSEVIER SCI LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.apergo.2014.04.008
Keywords
Cooling; Fire fighting garments; Heat stress
Categories
Funding
- Taiwan Textile Research Institute in Taiwan - Department of Industrial Technology (DoIT), Ministry of Economic Affairs in Taiwan
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Firemen often suffer from heat strain. This study investigated two chest cooling systems for use under a firefighting suit. In nine male subjects, a vest with water soaked cooling pads and a vest with water perfused tubes were compared to a control condition. Subjects performed 30 min walking and 10 min recovery in hot conditions, while physiological and perceptual parameters were measured. No differences were observed in heart rate and rectal temperature, but scapular skin temperature and fluid loss were lower using the perfused vest. Thermal sensation was cooler for the perfused vest than for the other conditions, while the cool pad vest felt initially cooler than control. However, comfort and RPE scores were similar. We conclude that the cooling effect of both tested systems, mainly providing a (temporally) cooler thermal sensation, was limited and did not meet the expectations. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd and The Ergonomics Society. All rights reserved.
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