Features

Issue 16: Securing the grid

With over 15,000 kilometres of pipeline in the Netherlands and northern Germany, dozens of installations and approximately 1,300 gas receiving stations Gasunie has continued to modernise its security network with help from Geutebruck » Read more

Issue 16: Good working order

The fire protection needs of the petrochemical industry, both offshore and onshore, are rigorous and exacting. As a result, a correctly specified and installed fire detection system is essential in ensuring the safety and wellbeing of those operating in this type of environment. » Read more

Issue 16: A Question of Balance

Whether in the oilfields or at refineries and petrochemical processing plants, firefighter protection needs to balance the level of physical protection against the dangers of either hot or burning oil or gas with the requirement to minimise the internal build-up of heat produced by the combination of external and internal heat generation. Paul Gibson explains. » Read more

Issue 16: The challenges of open spaces

Fire is one of the most catastrophic events that a home or business owner can face and it can potentially have devastating effects on lives, property and business. Fire detection and alarm systems are designed to provide early warning of the outbreak of fire therefore enabling appropriate fire fighting action. » Read more

Issue 16: Increased safety with simulation

The question every fire chief has to answer is how best to prepare his firefighters. Traditional fire training burning unreliable fire accelerants such as wood, diesel, etc. no longer satisfies modern fire training needs. There exists a simple solution for these needs: live fire training simulators which can provide realistic, effective, economic, environment-friendly and safe training. Ruben Keuchen explains. » Read more

Archived Features

 

The Role of Heat Stress and PPE: An Important American Research Project

The-Role-of-Heat-Stress-and-PPE

Leading British PPE textile manufacturer Hainsworth is focusing on helping fire services to combat heat stress – one of the biggest threats to firefighter safety. The design of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for fire & rescue personnel has advanced in leaps and bounds over the past two decades. An important part of this progress has been the various medical research studies that have been carried out on the physical operational work of firefighters and its outcomes. Fire Middle East reports on one recent research project from the United States.

Background

A recent Research and Development meeting hosted by FEMA in Washington, DC highlighted a large number of research projects funded by Fire Prevention and Safety Grants awarded under the Assistance to Firefighters Grant Program. At the meeting, the room was filled with a distinguished group of PhD's and MD's that shared a common goal – making firefighting safer.

The meeting heard that although much of this research may take several years to yield practical results, there were also presentations on completed projects that could provide valuable guidance to firefighters right now.

A Significant Project

One of these projects, Cardiovascular and Biomechanical Responses to Firefighting and PPE was presented by Denise Smith and Gavin Horn of the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute, and provides a review of the known research and new and important findings and recommendations.

In plain English, this project studied how heat stress may be a common causal factor in both firefighter heart attacks (the leading cause of on-duty deaths) and slip, trip and fall accidents (the largest portion of fire ground injuries).

The Effects of Different PPE Configurations

One part of this study documented laboratory based cardiovascular risk factors among a large cohort of firefighters and investigated the effects of different PPE configurations on physiological and biomechanical responses to live fire firefighting activities.

Study participants included 122 male firefighters from across the state of Illinois with a wide range of firefighting experience. The group was nearly equally divided between career and volunteer firefighters. The participants were relatively young (mean age = 29.5 years), were free of known cardiovascular disease or balance/ gait impairment and were not taking medications for hypertension or high cholesterol.

Participants engaged in 18 minutes of firefighting activity in a burn tower that contained live fire. Temperatures were maintained at approx 100ºF and 170ºF at the floor and waist level, respectively. Firefighting activities included repeated work-rest cycles, with firefighters doing stair climbing, forcible entry, search and rescue, and a simulated hose pull.

Major Findings

  • A large percentage of the firefighters who participated were overweight or obese based on BMI measures.
  • A large percentage of these firefighters were pre-hypertensive or hypertensive.
  • Eighteen minutes of simulated firefighting activity causes significant physiological disruption including an increase of heart rate (75 bpm) and an increase of core temperature (1.2ºF).
  • The simulated firefighting activities caused a significant increase in platelet numbers and a significant increase of platelet activation (resulting in faster clot formation).
  • Firefighting activity resulted in an increased level of coagulation (increased factor VIII activity and PF1.2) and significant changes in clot breakdown (fibrinolysis).
  • PPE configuration had no significant effect on physiological, perceptual, blood chemistry, or coagulatory responses to short-term firefighting activity.
  • Donning of firefighting personal protective equipment caused significant detriments in gait and balance parameters regardless of which configuration of PPE was worn.
  • Enhanced PPE had a smaller detrimental effect on some gait parameters than the Standard PPE.
  • Eighteen minutes of simulated firefighting activity had negligible further effects on gait and balance parameters compared with the effect of donning firefighting PPE.

The Research Project Recommendations

Nine separate detailed recommendations are contained in the report which is entitled Firefighter Fatalities and Injuries: The Role of Heat Stress and PPE published by the Firefighter Life Safety Research Centre, Illinois Fire Service Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign, July 2008. A copy of the complete report is available for download at www.fsi.uiuc.edu. 

Fire Middle East is indebted to the Illinois Fire Service Institute for the information contained in this summary. Additional information on firefighter PPE materials can be found at: www.hainsworth.co.uk