Warfighter Physiological Status Monitoring (WPSM): Body Core Temperatures During96 h of Swamp Phase Ranger Training

摘要

In February 1997, ten Ranger students were studied during four days of swampphase training at Camp Rudder. Objective: to confirm that core temperatures remain above 35.5 deg C (95.9 deg F) when the Ranger Cold Weather Immersion Limits Table guidelines were followed. Methods: an accurate, unobtrusive, lightweight (3 oz) Body Core Temperature Monitor (BCTM) and an FDA-approved temperature pill were used to record and store data for later analysis. A logbook of date, time, grid coordinates, debarkation water temperature, and immersion depths was kept. Weather data, including river depth and water temperature, was obtained from automated weather stations in the Ranger training area. Results: Due to the unusually warm weather conditions (air temp. = 56 to 76 deg F) and limited immersion time, the data needed to validate the Immersion Limits Table could not be collected. Nevertheless, the volunteers exhibited a remarkably wide range of core temperatures. Average core temperature ranged from 35.9 deg C (96.6 deg F) to 38.2 deg C (100.8 deg F), with individual values ranging from 35.4 deg C (95.7 deg F) to 39.1 deg C (102.4 deg F). Recommendations: (a) return to Camp Rudder next winter to continue effort to validate Cold Weather Immersion Limits Table, (b) initiate similar studies of Mountain Phase of Ranger Training, (c) define design for an improved BCTM capable of transmitting core temperature data to a data collecting system that would warn when a soldier's temperature was outside safe limits.