Influence of Personal Protective Equipment on Wildland Firefighters’ Physiological Response and Performance during the Pack Test

Belén Carballo-Leyenda, Jorge Gutiérrez-Arroyo, Fabio García-Heras, Pilar Sánchez-Collado, José G. Villa-Vicente and Jose A. Rodríguez-Marroyo
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Belén Carballo-Leyenda: VALFIS Research Group, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Jorge Gutiérrez-Arroyo: VALFIS Research Group, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Fabio García-Heras: VALFIS Research Group, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Pilar Sánchez-Collado: VALFIS Research Group, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
José G. Villa-Vicente: VALFIS Research Group, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, 24071 León, Spain
Jose A. Rodríguez-Marroyo: VALFIS Research Group, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, 24071 León, Spain

IJERPH, 2021, vol. 18, issue 10, 1-9

Abstract: The Pack Test (PT) is a widely used test to establish readiness for work in wildland firefighting. It is common to perform this test dressed in regular exercise clothing. However, wildland firefighters (WFF) have to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) during their deployments, which increases the physiological strain and reduces their work capacity. This study aimed to analyse the impact of full PPE on PT performance. Nine male professional WFF performed in random order a PT walking at the fastest possible self-pace wearing two different clothing configurations: (i) traditional short sports gear (SG) and (ii) the PPE currently used by Spanish WFF. Heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion and lap time were recorded during the PT. In addition, oxygen uptake (VO 2 ) was estimated through the individual VO 2 –HR relationship previously obtained during a graded exercise test. There was a significant decrease in the PT performance (i.e., completion time) (~12%, p < 0.05) in PPE. The physiological demands with this configuration were significantly higher (~10%, p < 0.05). WFF spent ~13 min above the anaerobic threshold in PPE vs. ~4 min in SG. A multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that PT performance variation might be explained by the maximal aerobic velocity (84.5%) in PPE and the VO 2max (75.9%) in SG. In conclusion, wearing complete PPE increases WFF’s physiological strain, which translates into a significant PT performance reduction. Performing the test walking at the fastest possible self-pace wearing the PPE would better reflect the high-intensity effort periods reported in real scenarios.

Keywords: wildland firefighting; personal protective equipment; readiness for work; physical employment standards; work capacity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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