Effects of liquid cooling garments on recovery and performance time in individuals performing strenuous work wearing a firefighter ensemble

Details

• Personal Author:
  Coca, Aitor ; Kim J-H ; Roberge RJ ; Williams WJ ; Coca, Aitor ; Kim J-H ; Roberge RJ ; Williams WJ
• Description:
  This study investigated the effects of body cooling using liquid cooling garments (LCG) on performance time (PT) and recovery in individuals wearing a fully equipped prototype firefighter ensemble (PFE) incorporating a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Six healthy male participants (three firefighters and three non-firefighters) completed six experimental sessions in an environmental chamber (35 degrees C, 50% relative humidity), consisting of three stages of 15 min exercise at 75% VO(2max), and 10 min rest following each exercise stage. During each session, one of the following six conditions was administered in a randomized order: control (no cooling, CON); air ventilation of exhaust SCBA gases rerouted into the PFE (AV); top cooling garment (TCG); TCG combined with AV (TCG+AV); a shortened whole body cooling garment (SCG), and SCG combined with AV (SCG+AV). Results showed that total PT completed was longer under SCG and SCG+AV compared with CON, AV, TCG, and TCG+AV (p < 0.01). Magnitude of core temperature (T(c)) elevation was significantly decreased when SCG was utilized (p < 0.01), and heart rate recovery rate (10 min) was enhanced under SCG, SCG+AV, TCG, and TCG+AV compared with CON (p < 0.05). Estimated E(sw) rate (kg·h(-1)) was the greatest in CON, 1.62 (0.37), and the least in SCG+AV 0.98 (0.44): (descending order: CON > AV > TCG = TCG+AV > SCG > SCG+AV) without a statistical difference between the conditions (p < 0.05). Results of the present study suggest that the application of LCG underneath the PFE significantly improves the recovery during a short period of rest and prolongs performance time in subsequent bouts of exercise. LCG also appears to be an effective method for body cooling that promotes heat dissipation during uncompensable heat stress. [Description provided by NIOSH]
• Subjects:
  Firefighters Fires Hot Temperature Laboratories Occupational Health Personal Protective Equipment Safety Temperature
• Keywords:
  Author Keywords: Core Temperature Biological-effects Fire-fighters Fire-protection-equipment Firefighter Ensembles Heat-dissipation Heat-exposure Heat-regulation Heat Stress Laboratory-testing Liquid Cooling Garments Personal-protection Personal-protective-equipment Physiological-effects Physiological-measurements Physiological-response Physiological-stress Physiological-testing Protective-equipment Protective-measures Qualitative-analysis Self-contained-breathing-apparatus Statistical-analysis Temperature-effects

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• ISSN:
  1545-9624
• Document Type:
  Text
• Genre:
  Journal Article ; Journal Article
• Place as Subject:
  Georgia ; OSHA Region 3 ; OSHA Region 4 ; Pennsylvania
• CIO:
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) ; National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH)
• Division:
  NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory ; NPPTL - National Personal Protective Technology Laboratory
• Topic:
  Workplace Safety & Health ; Workplace Safety & Health
• Location:
  North America ; North America
• Pages in Document:
  409-416
• Volume:
  8
• Issue:
  7
• NIOSHTIC Number:
  nn:20038924
• Citation:
  J Occup Environ Hyg 2011 Jul; 8(7):409-416
• Federal Fiscal Year:
  2011
• NORA Priority Area:
  Services ; Public Safety ; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing ; Services ; Public Safety ; Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing
• Peer Reviewed:
  True
• Source Full Name:
  Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• Collection(s):
  National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health
• Main Document Checksum:
  urn:sha-512:0dac7b01db1e15601e50e5fdeccd511692ac8f183c9d3eb78cf914d11a31ec1890cb1cfbb0830f53910d682c3c8884e647899b01baac7090b8ced338f3680149
• Download URL:
  https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/192451/cdc_192451_DS1.pdf
• File Type:
  [PDF - 415.26 KB ]