- Author
-
Office of the Deputy Prime Minister
- Title
- Operational Physiological Capabilities of Firefighters: Literature Review and Research Recommendations.
- Coporate
- Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, London, England
- Report
-
04LGFG02767(1),
December 2004,
120 p.
- Keywords
-
fire fighters
|
physiological effects
|
literature reviews
|
regulations
|
standards
|
fire safety
|
scenarios
|
fire fighting
|
protective clothing
|
protective equipment
|
costs
|
respiratory systems
|
self contained breathing apparatus
|
wildland fires
|
tolerances (physiology)
|
legislation
|
human factors engineering
|
thermal insulation
|
heat exposure
|
human beings
|
health hazards
|
physiology
|
stress (physiology)
|
physical fitness
- Identifiers
- Personal Protective Equipment (PPE); methods and exclusion criteria; overview of the key tasks of UK fire fighters; modulating influences on fire fighter performance; thermal environments experienced by fire fighters; thermal demands; respiratory demands; SCBA entry tables; respiratory effects of SCBA mass; respiratory factors and fire fighting ensemble; demands of fire fighting; key task elements of fire fighting; fitness and physiological requirements of fire fighters; background: general health of fire fighters; fire fighter fitness (internaitonal); MOD Standards 1997: human factors for designers of equipment; manual handling regulations; physical fitness of internaitonal fire fighters
- Abstract
- The Project Team were commissioned by the Fire Research Division of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister to review the published literature on the physiological capability of firefighters to perform their wide-ranging operational duties, and to provide recommendations for further research to fill the knowledge gaps. The drivers for this project emanated from two firefighter special interest groups - the Building Disaster Assessment Group (BDAG) and the New Dimensions Group (NDG). The intended outcomes for this review and any subsequent research are to: * Reduce risk from work activity of firefighters, * Improve guidance for firefighter operational practices and training, * Improve planned and dynamic risk assessment, * Modify procedures for building design, approval and use and * Elicit improvements to the Building Regulations. The first phase of the project identified, obtained, analysed, interpreted and reviewed all relevant published literature in a systematic, comprehensive and unbiased manner. Over 1300 references were identified during this phase from both fire-related and other sources. Following several sifting processes, hard copies of the full reports of the remaining references were obtained and the relevant subject matter expert undertook a review of each paper. The final reference list included over 170 journal articles and technical reports.