Cool Vests Worn Under Firefighting Ensemble Reduces Heat Strain During Exerciseand Recovery

摘要

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a cool vest (CV)to reduce heat strain during exercise, facilitate recovery, and minimize heat strain during subsequent return to exercise and heat exposure. Male volunteers (n=12) were monitored for heart rate (HR), and rectal (Tre), chest (Tch), arm (Tar), thigh (Tth) and calf (Tca) temperatures during randomly ordered no vest (NV) and cool vest (CV) tests. CV was worn over cotton work clothes and under firefighting ensemble (FFE) . Test protocol consisted of 20 min each of rest, exercise, recovery, exercise, and recovery. Rest and recovery occurred in 29 deg C/65% relative humidity (rh) air, while walking exercise (1.12 m.s(-1)/0% grade) occurred in 48 deg C/50% rh air. All NV and CV subjects completed the 100 min tests. Repeated-measures analysis of variance revealed significantly lower T(re) T(ch), T(ar) and T(ch) for CV compared to NV, while differences in Tca and HR were nonsignificant. Compared to NV, T(re) T(ch) T(ar), and T(th) for CV decreased faster (p.