Physiological and Perceived Effects of Forearm or Head Cooling During Simulated Firefighting Activity and Rehabilitation.

Publication/Presentation Date

11-1-2016

Abstract

CONTEXT:  Cooling devices aim to protect firefighters by attenuating a rise in body temperature. Devices for head cooling (HC) while firefighting and forearm cooling (FC) during rehabilitation (RHB) intervals are commonly marketed, but research regarding their efficacy is limited.

OBJECTIVE:  To investigate the physiological and perceived effects of HC and FC during firefighting drills and RHB.

DESIGN:  Randomized controlled clinical trial.

SETTING:  Firefighter training center.

PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS:  Twenty-seven male career firefighters (age = 39 ± 7 years; height = 169 ± 7 cm; weight = 95.4 ± 16.8 kg).

INTERVENTION(S):  Firefighters were randomly assigned to 1 condition: HC (n = 9), in which participants completed drills wearing a cold gel pack inside their helmet; FC (n = 8), in which participants sat on a collapsible chair with water-immersion arm troughs during RHB; or control (n = 10), in which participants used no cooling devices. Firefighters completed four 15-minute drills (D1-D4) wearing full bunker gear and breathing apparatus. Participants had a 15-min RHB after D2 (RHB1) and D4 (RHB2).

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S):  Change (Δ) in gastrointestinal temperature (T

RESULTS:  The T

CONCLUSIONS:  The HC did not attenuate rises in physiological or perceptual variables during firefighting drills. The FC effectively reduced T

Volume

51

Issue

11

First Page

927

Last Page

935

ISSN

1938-162X

Disciplines

Medicine and Health Sciences

PubMedID

28068165

Department(s)

Department of Surgery

Document Type

Article

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