2007, Piran, Slovenia

Environmental Ergonomics XII
Igor B. Mekjavic, Stelios N. Kounalakis & Nigel A.S. Taylor (Eds.), © BIOMED, Ljubljana 2007
196
HEAT STRESS INCIDENTS DURING FIRE FIGHTING
RELATED TASKS
Ronald Heus and Eric Mol,
TNO Defence, Security and Safety,
Contact person: ronald.heus@tno.nl
INTRODUCTION
In recent years several fire fighters of the Amsterdam Fire Brigade has suffered from
heat stress. The problems mainly occurred while performing fire fighting activities
while being exposed to fire related heat (smoke diving), but also during long-time
technical rescue activities. Reported symptoms were decreased concentration,
dizziness, nausea and decreased motor coordination (Pandolf et al., 2001). The
Amsterdam fire fighters themselves attributed the problems to the quality and
functionality of their recently acquired new protective garments. The aim of this study
was to investigate the possible causes of heat related problems that fire fighters of the
Amsterdam Fire Brigade have faced and to suggest possible actions to prevent reoccurrence
of these problems. The following sub-questions were formulated:
• What are the effects of ageing and use of turn-out gear on the heat related
problems?
• Which aspects of fire fighting determine the occurrence of heat related
problems?
• What is the role of exercise history on the occurrence of heat related
problems?
Previous activities may have a warming-up effect on the fire fighters leading to a rise
in core temperature. This may give a faster onset of heat stress symptoms during fire
fighting. It may also shorten the maximal acceptable working time of a fire fighting
task.
METHODS
To study the effect of ageing and use of turn-out gear on heat stress, the following
textile material measurements were carried out:
• thermal insulation
• water vapour permeability
• air permeability.
The results of the measurements of the used clothing were compared to new, unused
garments.
The thermal dynamic clothing model, THDYN, (Lotens, 19893) was then used to
estimate the effect of changed material properties on the maximal acceptable working
times, based on a stop criterion of 38.5°C (den Hartog, 2001).
The occurrence of heat related problems were determined by semi-structured
interviews with identified stakeholders (fire fighters, fire chiefs, company doctor,
safety officer, physical education instructor, logistics coordinator and representatives
of the works council) of the Amsterdam Fire Brigade, based on underlying documents
such as accident reports, shift reports and available SCBA-data (Self Contained
Breathing Apparatus).