Abstract
Background: Firefighters
often perform multiple emergency tasks during firefighting and life-saving
operations under unknown and unpredictable conditions in hot and hostile
environments. Therefore, this study examined the effect of cooling strategies
on attenuating physiological and cognitive function response during simulated
firefighting activities in a smoke-diving room.
Methods: Each firefighter
engaged in four conditions: namely (1) no cooling device; control (NC), (2)
cooling gel containing menthol (CG), (3) cool vest (CV), and (4) cooling gel
and cool vest (CG+CV). Cooling effects were evaluated by heart rate (HR),
temporal temperature (TT), reaction time (RT), and the correct response (CR).
Results: In the four experimental conditions,
physiological response increased, reaction time improved, and correct response
decreased after the activity relative to baseline. HR and TT were significantly
lower at the end of the firefighting activity in the CG+CV (147.47 ± 4.8_bpm;
37.88 ± 0.20_○C) and CV (147.53 ± 4.67_bpm; 37.90 ± 0.22_○C)
compared with the CG (153.67 ± 4.82_bpm; 38.10 ± 0.22_○C) and NC
(154.4 ± 4.91_bpm; 38.11 ± 0.23_○C) conditions. RT and CR were
significantly higher at the end of the activity in the CG+CV and CV compared
with the CG and NC conditions.
Conclusion: It is
concluded that
strenuous firefighting tasks have a detrimental effect on firefighters’
physiological responses and cognitive function. The findings also revealed that CV was more effective than the CG in attenuating physiological responses and cognitive
function during firefighting operations. Furthermore, combining
CV with CG provides no additional benefit. It is
concluded that cooling the body by the use of CV offered physiological and
psychological benefit for firefighters during simulated firefighting
activities.