Performing Department
Family And Consumer Sciences
Non Technical Summary
Throughout most of the past decade wildland fires have dominated natural resource management issues. There appears to have been an increase in the prevalence of large scale wildland fires throughout the United States in recent years; a large scale fire event takes place every two-three years. The increase of wildland fire activity has forced natural resource managers to focus more of their attention and resources on fire management. An area of research focus that has been lacking is the human resource factor. Not only is it important to factor in the human element in wildland urban interface (WUI) related issues but it is also important to direct attention to those in the heat of the battle, the wildland firefighters. Firefighters can be assigned to a fire for up to 14 days and in many cases up to 12-hour shifts. During their assignments firefighters face a multitude of challenges and hazards in the field. To be fully prepared for dangerous situations firefighters must be properly trained and equipped. Personal gear of firefighters must be designed for protection, comfort, physiological and psychological, fit, during a prolonged use. The effectiveness of protective clothing is dependent on numerous factors, including textile properties, clothing design and appropriate fit. Further investigation of commercially available protective gear is needed to determine how current garments are meeting or not meeting the needs of firefighters. Issues relating to the interaction between the wearer, garment, equipment, and the environment have been raised. Garment design factors must be balanced with cost effectiveness both in terms of monetary and human resources. Basic work in human factors related to protective clothing for wildland firefighters is required to develop the knowledge base. Once factors of issue for the firefighters have been identified through a needs assessment, materials and prototypes can be developed. Testing, design and redesign of protective clothing can then be undertaken to find the best possible solutions.
Animal Health Component
0%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
50%
Applied
50%
Developmental
(N/A)
Goals / Objectives
Identification of comfort and fit issues related to the protective clothing of wildland firefighters.
Identification and testing of textile materials suitable for protective clothing for wildland firefighters.
Design development and testing of prototype personal protective clothing for wildland firefighters: A. prototype development, B. performance and human factors testing and evaluation.
Education and communication of findings to government and industry wildland fire management agencies.
Project Methods
Objective 1: Identification of comfort issues related to the protective clothing of wildland firefighters. Market research will be performed to establish the personal protective equipment (PPE) designs currently available to wildland firefighters. Design features will be examined and analyzed in terms of potential for performance. The results of the analysis will inform the planning as well as the understanding of investigations of the comfort issues associated with PPE for wildland firefighters. To identify comfort issues related to protective gear used by wildland firefighters, input will be sought from firefighters through focus groups and interviews. United States Interagency and state wildland firefighting agencies will be contacted to seek assistance in finding participants. Firefighters from each of the states will be interviewed allowing for issues in diverse working environments to be addressed. Issues identified through the focus groups and interviews will be used to develop a survey instrument with closed- and open-ended questions that can be deployed to a larger population of wildland firefighters to gain additional feedback on (a) concerns related to comfort (including physiological and psychological comfort) and fit (including sizing) of current protective clothing, (b) desired possible improvements of the current gear and visions for possible new designs of protective clothing, and (c) current wear and care practices and possible solutions to problems stemming from these practices. Objective 2: Identification and testing of textile materials suitable for protective clothing for wildland firefighters. Market research will be performed to determine the materials currently used in PPE equipment for wildland firefighters. Research of novel textile performance materials for use in protective clothing for firefighting will also be done, and a list of suitable materials will be compiled. Unless data about textile materials are available from the manufacturers, testing of the most-promising materials will be performed to establish the effects on the properties of the fabrics due to sun exposure, heat exposure, abrasion and wear, soiling through various agents, and laundering/cleaning procedures. Criteria established by existing ASTM and NFPA standards will be used to determine the best performing materials under certain environmental conditions. Identification of materials currently being used will be the primary responsibility of the researcher from Louisiana. Researchers from the other participating states will be involved in testing of properties of materials identified to be used in prototype development. Objective 3: Design development and testing of prototype personal protective clothing for wildland firefighters: A. prototype development, B. performance and human factor testing and evaluation. Objective 3A: Prototype Development Main considerations in design and development of personal protective equipment (PPE), is to optimize human performance based on users needs. Inevitably, design solutions will differ to reflect the user population in terms of its anthropometric dimensions and the specifics of the particular activities in terms of types and manner of motions performed. Therefore, to ensure the success of the developed PPE, the design process must begin by defining the user population and establishing an appropriate anthropometric database and identifying the tasks and motionscommonly performed while using the PPE. The SizeUSA and /or CAESAR 3D body scan data will be used to represent the target population (males and females) and inform design solutions, as well as to create sizing charts for the PPE for wildland firefighters. To perform successfully, PPE must accommodate (a) the changes in body dimensions that occur while the body is in motion or in a working positionand (b) the changes on the range of motion (ROM) when performing common tasks (e.g. range of the angle between the arm and the torso when reaching and bracing can be important for the design of an underarm gusset or a release pleat). Changes in body dimensions and ROM can be assessed using a combination of a 3D full body scanner to assess the body in static relaxed or static working positions and a motion capture system to assess body ROM, changes in ROM, and changes in body dimensions during movement. This objective will involve the development of design specifications based on objectives 1 & 2. Prototypes will be developed and wear tested with human subjects. Objective 3B: Performance and Human Factor Testing and Evaluation Comfort perception of clothing attributes contributes to satisfaction with a product end use. Fit and mobility are critical factors in the comfort performance of PPE and are essential for wearer acceptability. Movement assessment will be based on the exercise protocol fromAmerican Society for Testing and Materials, Standard Practices for Qualitatively Evaluating the Comfort, Fit, Function and Integrity of Chemical-Protective Suit Ensembles.Movements for testing that best represented those movements required by the particular work environment will be utilized. After the movement protocol, participants will fill out wearer acceptability scales. Considering the advanced capabilities of motion capture systems in tracking and analyzing human motion, studies of body movement being affected by clothing could be performed: first a body movement protocol will be followed without wearing a garment (baseline data) and next, the same body movement protocol will be repeated while wearing a garment. Motion capture data will yield an objective measure of garment effects on body movement. These data will be combined with the results of subjective evaluations of comfort and fit following completion of wearer acceptability scales. Design revisions and modifications regarding comfort (including fit) and movement issues will be based on results of wear testing. Again most of the equipment required for this testing is located at OK. Lead states will be able to utilize their equipment to conduct the tests. Thermal properties of the developed prototypes can be tested and compared using a sweating thermal manikin. Based on the test results a stage of prototype redesign may be necessary prior to performing tests with human subjects. The thermal comfort testing with human subjects will be conducted in a human environmental chamber with controlled temperature and humidity conditions. Participants will undergo a battery of exercises while body characteristics, such as skin and core temperature, and vitals are monitored. After thermal testing, subjects will fill out wearer acceptability scales consisting of a series of questions designed to determine how subjects feel about the prototypes performance in terms of comfort and fit. Objective 4: Education and communication of findings to government and industry wildland fire management agencies. The initial process will be to establish a communication network to facilitate research across university, government, and industry. The successful establishment of any network will also depend on the availability of long term financial support from agencies and industry. An online system that serves as a primary source of information for protective clothing for wildland firefighters will be developed. This system will also be publicly available and may include information about the material or garment, its availability, performance, selection, use, care, and maintenance. The system could also be developed such that it can be used to obtain user input for future research on wildland firefighter protective clothing. All participating states will be involved in disseminating information through their appropriate state and federal outlets.