2007, Piran, Slovenia

Occupational Thermal Problems
during CS compared to C. Subjects having cold fingers had also cold feet. There was a
positive correlation (r=0.557) between the Q1 of Tfinger and Tfoot during CS.
Physical characteristics and peripheral skin temperatures showed no correlation. Only slight
relationship (ns) between %BF and Q1 finger temperature during CS was detected. Subject #6
with high %BF and moderate physical fitness showed the highest mean and Q1 Tfinger and the
decrement during the combat shooting was the smallest.
Table 2: Individual mean (±SE) and the lowest quintile (Q1) finger and foot temperatures
during combat and combat shooting training. av = average from eight subjects. * p < 0.001.
subj mean Tfinger °C Q1 Tfinger °C mean Tfoot °C Q1 Tfoot °C
C CS C CS C CS C CS
1 24.3 ±0.1 21.5 ±0.1 16.0 13.8 27.8 ±0.1 28.0 ±0.1 24.5 24.1
2 19.9 ±0.1 17.1 ±0.1 13.3 11.2 27.5 ±0.1 26.9 ±0.1 24.3 22.4
3 22.4 ±0.1 19.7 ±0.1 15.4 14.2 31.7 ±0.1 31.3 ±0.1 30.2 29.5
4 22.0 ±0.1 19.3 ±0.2 14.1 12.3 30.2 ±0.1 29.8 ±0.1 27.3 26.7
5 23.1 ±0.1 17.5 ±0.3 14.4 11.3 23.0 ±0.1 25.9 ±0.1 17.5 20.9
6 25.6 ±0.1 22.9 ±0.1 17.1 16.0 29.9 ±0.1 29.0 ±0.1 26.5 25.5
7 23.9 ±0.1 22.2 ±0.2 15.6 13.3 31.9 ±0.1 30.8 ±0.1 30.3 28.8
8 23.9 ±0.1 19.5 ±0.2 15.2 11.7 28.7 ±0.1 27.3 ±0.1 26.0 24.1
av 23.1 ±0.6 19.8
±0.7*
15.1
±0.4
13.0
±0.6*
28.8 ±1.0 28.7 ±0.7 25.8
±1.4
25.2
±1.1
DISCUSSION
Peripheral skin temperatures decreased to low level during the manoeuvre and they tended to
be colder at the end of the manoeuvre compared to the beginning. During CS the finger
temperatures were below 16°C (2°C lower than during C) which must have affected
negatively to the manual performance, as also expressed in subjective ratings.
Feet temperatures showed smaller decrement during combat shooting compared to the fingers.
Nevertheless, feet temperature decreased to surprisingly low level during the daily training
periods. It can be assumed that blood flow in the foot is decreased in the observed foot
temperatures. According to Allwood and Burry (1951) decrement of skin temperature below
~30°C decreases blood flow in the foot almost to minimum. During long-term cold exposures
low foot temperature and consequently decreased blood flow expose to a risk of non-freezing
cold injuries.
The individual property of having cold fingers and feet persisted throughout the manoeuvre.
The same trend was also seen in those subjects with warm fingers. Individually, the subjects
with cold fingers had also cold feet.
No development of local cold acclimatization was seen during the winter manoeuvre. Local
cold acclimatization usually develops in two weeks if the extremities, especially fingers and
hands, are daily exposed to cold. Ambient temperature was to some extent higher but wind
was slightly stronger at the latter part of the manoeuvre compared to the beginning. Moreover,
the combat training was physically more active than combat shooting training. Greater
cooling of the fingers during CS may also be caused by more frequent handling of cold
weapons and equipment with bare hands. Therefore, different tasks, activity level and ambient
climate conditions during combat and combat shooting may have masked the possible cold
acclimatization effects. Because the military manoeuvre was performed in December the
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