2007, Piran, Slovenia

Occupational Thermal Problems
PHYSIOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF FIREFIGHTERS
UNDERTAKING URBAN SEARCH AND RESCUE
James Carter, David Wilkinson, Victoria Richmond, Mark Rayson
Optimal Performance Ltd, Bristol, United Kingdom
Contact person: james@optimalperformance.co.uk
INTRODUCTION
The UK has a long and successful record for Urban Search and Rescue (USAR). While the
requirement for the UK Fire and Rescue Service (FRS) to provide USAR capability is not
new, the importance of the USAR role was boosted in the aftermath of the World Trade
Centre incident in September 2001. Volunteers for UK USAR training are screened and
selected by their FRS, though this process remains to be formalised and standardised across
the country. It takes three weeks to train USAR operators in the skills required, including
shoring, cutting, drilling and the use of search cameras and listening devices. The USAR
capability includes a number of items of heavy equipment to lift, cut and remove rubble from
collapsed structures, and to find casualties. Add in the burdens of the operator’s Personal
Protective Equipment (PPE) and Respiratory Protective Equipment (RPE), the extremely
confined space in which the operators are often required to work, and a hostile environment
including heat, dust and danger, and the net result is an extremely demanding role.
In recent years, we have undertaken physiological assessments of a variety of conventional
and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) roles commissioned by the
UKFRS (Carter et al, 2006, Rayson et al, 2005). However, despite its emerging importance,
there has been a lack of research carried out to document the physical demands of USAR
activities. Consequently, this project attempted to expand the evidence base quantifying the
physical stress and strain to which firefighters are subjected in the USAR role.
METHODS
Eighteen USAR qualified firefighters (17 males, age (mean ± standard deviation (SD)): 39 ±7
y, body mass: 85 ±10 kg, and estimated maximal oxygen consumption (V . O2max): 45 ±7
ml.kg -1 .min -1 ) undertook a USAR trial, comprising a 180 min morning work bout and a 180
min afternoon work bout separated by a 90 min recovery period. The trials were carried out at
the USAR training facility at the Fire Service College, Moreton-in-Marsh, UK. Each bout
consisted of clearing and removal of building debris to allow access to the rescue area inside
the collapsed building and the subsequent breaching (breaking through with hydraulic drills
and cutters) through two concrete slabs using standard USAR techniques and equipment.
Once the breaches had been successfully completed the participants extracted a casualty
positioned just beyond each breach. Typically, four of the six-person team would be working
inside the building at any one time and the other two would be resting outside the building but
inside the facility hangar. The team would then rotate within pairs every 10-15 min. During
the bouts and recovery period, participants had access to water ad libitum.
On the night before their trial (22:00 hours) participants swallowed a radio telemetry pill,
enabling their core body temperature to be monitored as the pill passed through the gastrointestinal
tract (HQ Inc, Palmetto, Fl, USA). On the morning of the trial participants were
weighed semi-nude and asked to swallow another telemetry pill in the advent they defecated
the first pill at a later stage during the day (n=4). The two pills had different frequencies (262
kHz and 300 kHz) to avoid interference. For participants who had defecated the first pill,
fluid intake was restricted during the trial to avoid any possible temperature ‘contamination’
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