Assessing the Impact of Advanced Cooling Technology in Firefighting Gear During Live Burn Scenario.

OBJECTIVE

A firefighter wears a standard safety coat, its model unchanged for many years, when tackling a fire. We designed a new cooling system coat with carbon nanotube-based fabric and pouches inside the coat for coolants and fans. The coats, one standard and the other still evolving, are compared on several metrics including core body temperature and thermal comfort.

METHODS

An experimental protocol was designed involving a live burn facility under the paradigm of noninferiority study with firefighters trying both coats. The metrics are measured at several phases of the protocol. Multivariate t test is used to compare the performance of the coats.

RESULTS

The new coat is not inferior to the standard coat.

CONCLUSIONS

The new coat in its final form, which is yet to be tested fully, is a plausible replacement for the standard coat.