- Author
-
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
- Title
- Physiological Assessment of Firefighting, Search and Rescue in the Built Environment.
- Coporate
- Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, London, England
- Report
-
Fire Research Technical Report 2/2005
December 2004
83 p.
- Keywords
-
fire fighting
|
physiological effects
|
rescue
|
fire fighters
|
statistical analysis
|
physical fitness
|
temperature
|
scenarios
|
heat stress
- Identifiers
- ambient conditions; live fire scenario; physiological response by stage of scenario; high-rise stair climbing and hose running; predicting safe penetration distances; reducing heat strain during active duty
- Abstract
- All firefighting and other rescue activities are dependent to a greater or lesser extent upon the physiological capabilities of firefighters. Thus the physiological limitations of firefighters must be considered when planning for conventional and terrorist incidents within the built and natural environment. Currently, there is limited information available to fire and rescue service incident commanders on whether activities assigned to firefighters may exceed their ability to undertake the task safely within their physiological limitations, taking account of appropriate personal and respiratory protective equipment (PPE and RPE). This information is required for all operational incidents, from those attended on a routine basis, through to extreme events. While acknowledging that the expectations and performance demands placed upon firefighters will differ with the activity, there is presently little human factors guidance to support both planned and dynamic risk assessment of work activities. Optimal Performance Ltd. (OPL) was commissioned by the Fire Statistics and Research Division (FSRD) in the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) to investigate the physiological demands of firefighting in the built environment. This project was undertaken on behalf of The Building Disaster Assessment Group (BDAG) and managed by seconded officers from London, Greater Manchester and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services (F&RSs) within FSRD. BDAG was established to consider the issues for fire authorities and their Services in the UK that have been highlighted by the World Trade Centre incident of 11th September 2001.