Effects of Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) Armor on the Gross Body Mobility, Psychomotor Performance, Speech Intelligibility, and Visual Field of Men and Women

摘要

Four commercially-available explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) suits were evaluated in order to determine their effects on the wearer's gross body mobility, psychomotor performance, speech intelligibility, and visual field. Six Army enlisted men and six Army enlisted women were tested under six conditions: (1) fatigues and combat boots, (2) fatigues and combat boots with infantry armor vest and helmet, (3) Commercial A EOD armor, (4) Commercial B EOD armor, (5) Commercial C EOD armor, and (6) Commercial D EOD armor. Although different in design, each EOD suit consisted of a helmet, faceshield, torso armor, and upper and lower extremity armor. Commercial A and B EOD armor provided better mobility, psychomotor performance, speech intelligibility and field of vision than did Commercial C and D EOD armor. All four EOD suits were equivalent in terms of the wearer's ability to hear human speech accurately. Overall, test subject performance was best in Commercial A EOD armor and poorest in Commercial D EOD armor. There were no important differences between men and women in terms of ability to operate within the EOD suits. (Author)