Selected movement and force pattern differences in rail- and rung-climbing of fire apparatus aerial ladders at 52.5° slope

Details

• Alternative Title:
  Appl Ergon
• Personal Author:
  Fu, Qianyi Albert ; Simeonov, Peter ; Hsiao, Hongwei ; Woolley, Charles ; Armstrong, Thomas J.
• Description:
  This study compares human climbing performance, including climbing speed and movement and force patterns, between rail- and rung-climbing styles for a moderate aerial ladder slope (52.5°). Hand and foot movements and forces were recorded for 9 male and 10 female firefighters as they ascended and descended a 3.4-m ladder using elevated handrails (rail-climbing) or rungs (rung-climbing) for hand support. The results indicated that climbers used three or more points of contact 54% of the time for rung-climbing and 100% of the time for rail-climbing. Furthermore, rail-climbing was 10% faster than rung-climbing. In rail-climbing, the lateral hand forces were mostly directed away from the body; while during rung-climbing, they were alternated in lateral and medial directions. Overall, the results suggested that rail-climbing provides better control over body positioning and faster climbing speed. Furthermore, the continuous contact of both hands in rail-climbing may reduce the fall risk by facilitating the recovery from a slip or perturbation.
• Subjects:
  Biomechanical Phenomena Female Firefighters Foot Hand Humans Male Movement
• Keywords:
  Aerial Ladder Climbing Speed Hand Support Points Of Contact
• Source:
  Appl Ergon. 99:103639
• Pubmed ID:
  34753097
• Pubmed Central ID:
  PMC11298859
• Document Type:
  Journal Article
• Funding:
  CC999999/ImCDC/Intramural CDC HHSUnited States/
• Volume:
  99
• Collection(s):
  CDC Public Access
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:72f2dbc34ff5b61946f0798e53fdd2b8a48e15fbe2b96fe7c3c184e504f9984e0fce6f88e5c1c22d88f7cd76f5eb4dc1d3e452633d171012a4a66e696faff9e6
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/159566/cdc_159566_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 1.50 MB ]