Cooling Suit

Reported February 2008

PITTSBURGH, Pa. (Ivanhoe Newswire) -- Firefighters battle flames and smoke in gear that is specially designed to insulate them -- even when temperatures exceed one thousand degrees. But the very same life-saving equipment a firefighter dons may be putting him or her at risk -- by raising body temperatures to dangerous levels. Now researchers are developing a system to cool them off while they're smack dab in the middle of the fire.

Firefighting is dangerously hot work. The heat from a house fire can reach over 11-hundred degrees Fahrenheit. "It causes you to build up body heat," Jon Williams, Research Physiologist at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health told Ivanhoe.

But soon -- firefighters may add another layer of protection that will subtract body heat. This is a cooling suit -- a spandex undergarment, lined with plastic tubing. Physiologists say when a firefighter starts to work hard. His body gets rid of heat by moving warm blood into the skin. These tubes allow cool water to carry the heat away from the firefighter's body. The suit is designed to concentrate on areas where the body transfers the most heat.

"The scalp, the areas of the chest, the forearms. Where you get more heat transfer in those areas than you would if you were cooling another area of the body," Williams said.

At the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Lab, volunteers test the suit -- by walking on a treadmill -- to raise the person's core body temperature. For this test, researchers turned on the water transfer system. The volunteer's temperature barely changed.

For the second test, the cooling system was not turned on. After just a few minutes, the monitor showed a temperature spike -- his body went from ninety-seven -point-seven degrees Fahrenheit to ninety-eight-point- seven.

So now, scientists hope firefighters can douse flames … and keep cool all at the same time.

The American Industrial Hygiene Association contributed to the information contained in the TV portion of this report.

Click here to Go Inside This Science or contact:

Fred Blosser, Public Affairs
National Personal Protective Laboratory
(202) 260-8519
fbb0@cdc.gov

American Industrial Hygiene Association
Melissa Hurley
(703) 846-0740
mhurley@aiha.org

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