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Firefighters’ Skin Temperature During A Simulated Fire Combat Duty

2023; Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Volume: 55; Issue: 9S Linguagem: Inglês

10.1249/01.mss.0000988440.30523.e1

1530-0315

Philipe Carvalho Coelho, Thiago Ramos De Barros, Danielli Braga de Mello,

Occupational Health and Performance

Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) used by firefighters in Rio de Janeiro city offers protection against high temperatures in the fire environment; however, it also interferes in the heat dissipation produced by metabolism, inducing to hyperthermia, dehydration, and heat stroke. OBJECTIVE: Analyze the skin temperature (Tsk), core temperature (Tcore) and body mass (BM) of Brazilian firefighters during a simulated fire combat duty. METHODS: preliminary study with 08 male military firefighters' cadets (27.82 ± 1.88 yrs., 1.77 ± 0.04 m, 78.95 ± 3.88 kg), using complete PPE, without fire exposure. They executed an outdoor circuit (1500 m, altitude 24 m), into Academy facilities, transporting the fire combat equipment (13 kg) for 18 minutes. Variables Tsk, Tcore and BM were measured pre and post simulated fire combat duty at thermoneutral environment. Tsk was assessed with an infrared camera E76 FLIR® on face's inner conner of eye Regions of Interest (ROI) following Delphi study recommendations(1), and the thermograms were processed by Kelvin® software. Tcore was measured by CORE® body temperature sensor by GreenTEG® and BM by a mechanic scale. Ambient temperature and relative humidity were measured with thermo-hygrometer Minipa MT-240®. Data were analyzed by SPSS® 27.0 using Student's t test and Pearson correlation test at significant level α = 0.05. RESULTS: Table 1 present significant difference in the variables analyzed. Also, it was observed a significant association between Tsk and simulated fire combat duty duration (R = 0.810; p = 0.015). CONCLUSION: The PPE properties of flame resistance and heat radiation(2) for 18 min of simulated fire combat duty induced the increase in sweat rate, skin, and core temperature, characterized by hyperthermia. Cooling and hydration strategies must be applied to keep the combat duty efficiency and avoid the effects of heat stroke. Supported by Academia de Bombeiro Militar Dom Pedro II, Radsquare®, and CORE® Temperature by GreenTEG®.