Abstract
Aim: The purpose of this article is to determine the demands placed on a firefighter as a result of wearing special garments during rescue operations.
Project and methods: The article presents results from research performed with the aid of ergo-spirometer Start 2000M. A middle aged firefighter, of average physical build (36 years of age, 179 cm high, 92 kg weight) was exposed to research tests which were repeated five times. Each test was performed after fasting, on different days in an enclosed space with stable temperature conditions and humidity (temperature in the range 21–22°C and relative humidity 33–34%). The mass of the garment was calculated at 620 g/m2. Results were compared with performance where sport attire was worn. It was assumed that wearing sportswear precluded generation of heat and probably afforded maximum comfort. Comparative tests were performed for constant workload sessions consisting of a 10-minute quick march (v = 7 km/h), preceded by a four minute rest period. During the course of research, parameters such as the heart rate (HR), lung ventilation per minute (VE), oxygen consumption for every kilogram of body weight (VMO2) and breathing rate (BF) were recorded and analyzed.
Results: All tested parameters revealed a higher workload during tests, when the special garment was worn compared with sportswear. Additionally, all analysed parameters whilst attired in the special garment, apart from breathing frequency (VBF = 21.7%) were characterized by a variation coefficient of less than 20% (low population differential). This is confirmed by low uncertainty values, which are, apart from BF, lower than 5%. None of the confidence intervals for α = 0.1 overlapped, and the comparative criterion for each of the cases fulfilled the dependence |X2 – X1| > ΔX1 + ΔX2. Thus, parameter values for a special garment are significantly higher than parameters for sportswear with a probability of 90%.
Conclusions: The difference between measured parameters for sportswear and specialist garment is large, at least 16.7% (VMO2) and in the case of BF rising to 51%. The median of all measurements obtained during experiments, for conditions involving specialist attire and sportswear, was exposed to analysis. Such significant differences indicate a need for steps to manufacture special garments, which cause less stress on the body. Data contained in literature reveals that the psychological aspect alone, of performing operational activities (eg. initial approach to attack the fire) causes an increase in HR to 71% of an individual’s maximum heart rate and VE up to ~56 dm3/min. This indicates a need to minimise the influence of other stress factors, one of which may be relatively low comfort at work whilst wearing a special garment.
Keywords: ergo-spirometry, fireman workload, oxygen consumption, ventilation, heart frequency
Type of article: short scientific report