SDSU to monitor firefighters as they work
SDSU to monitor firefighters as they work
01 October 2013
published by www.utsandiego.com
USA — San Diego State University will put health and safety sensors on firefighters this fall to monitor how much physiological stress they experience while battling wildfires across Southern California and other parts of the state.
“We know very little about these stresses,” says Matt Rahn, an SDSU environmental scientist who is leading the study, which involves a partnership with Cal Fire, the U.S. Forest Service, and other first responders.
The study is meant to help find ways to more safely deploy firefighters, and to improve strategies for battling wildland blazes.
Preliminary testing could begin as early as this weekend. San Diego and other parts of the region are expected to receive moderate Santa Ana winds, which will raise the prospect of wildfires. A fire weather watch will go into effect at 2 a.m. on Friday.
Rahn is principal investigator of the $475,000 federally-funded study, which entails fitting firefighters with a chest strap device that can measure such things as heart rate and respiration. It also has an accelerometer to monitor physical movement. Firefighters will swallow a pill that will record their core body temperature and wirelessly relay the information to researchers for periods lasting up to 12 hours. They also might be given a small GPS monitor so scientists can track their location, and the distances they travel.
Rahn said there’s been a big push to better understand health and safety risks, “a lot of it related to the increasing number and scale of wildland fires and concerns associated with injuries and fatalities.”
In June, 19 firefighters were killed in the Yarnell Hill fire when they were overrun by a blaze outside of Prescott, Arizona. The SDSU study was funded before that tragedy. But concerns have been raised after many incidents, including the Cedar fire, which exploded through parts of San Diego County in 2003, killing one firefighter and injuring three others.
“In a lot of cases a firefighter will go from sleep to relaxation to working at 100-percent capacity in just a matter of moments,” Rahn said. “They do this in some of the most extreme environments imaginable. The stress of doing that is like revving the engine of a car, constantly going from zero to 7,000 RPMs. It’s important that we understand how this affects firefighters.”
