Effects of fire clothing heat stress on firefighter safety and health  

Heat stress is one of the main factors of firefighter injury.According to statistics, 70% of the firefighter accidents in the United States are related to heat stress.  Heat stress may lead to serious consequences such as heat cramps, dehydration, increased burden of cardiovascular system, tension, impatience and decreased judgment of firefighters. Therefore, a large number of foreign studies have been carried out by monitoring the changes of physiological indicators of firefighters in firefighting simulation activities.  

    1. Studies have found that heat stress has a significant impact on the cardiovascular system of firefighters.  With the accumulation of heat inside the firefighting suit, excessive sweating will cause the decrease of blood flow, especially the decrease of plasma volume. Meanwhile, the rise of body temperature will cause the blood vessels to dilate and the diameter of blood vessels to increase, so that more blood will be deposited in the venous system and the blood flow back to the heart will decrease rapidly, resulting in the rapid decrease of blood flow or blood pressure.  The heart cannot supply enough blood to the muscles, heart muscle and brain at the same time, leading to chest tightness and heart attacks。But the leading can cause of death among firefighters.  

   2. Norwegian research institutions have found that the symptoms of chronic fatigue syndrome are very similar to those of chronic workers exposed to heat stress.  Common symptoms include muscle discomfort, headache, exhaustion, speech problems, logic and memory disorders, and poor concentration. Medical studies have shown that constant exposure to heat can lead to extreme fatigue in individuals.  

   3. Experiments have shown that heat stress caused by fire-fighting protective clothing in firefighting operations will lead to rapid increase of temperature, heart rate and pulse of firefighters and accelerate thermal fatigue;  Irritable mood, the error rate of the judgment of the situation is obviously improved;  Excessive sweating leads to electrolyte imbalance in the body and increased levels of potassium, sodium and other elements, which may lead to diarrhea, vomiting and renal failure.  

It can be seen that the excessive thermal protection of fire-fighting protective clothing is not conducive to the safety and health of firefighters. Therefore, excessive thermal protection should be avoided as far as possible to effectively reduce the thermal damage caused to firefighters.

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