Mapping the Health, Safety and Wellbeing Challenges of Firefighting to Wearable Devices

Firefighting remains a dangerous job and those employed face many challenges to health, safety and wellbeing. The risks faced range from immediate threat to life and limb to long term, repeated exposure to hazardous environments and arduous working conditions. Many of these hazards can be mitigated by recording exposure to risks, processing risk data, improving information flow and increasing situational awareness. Cyber-physical systems and interactive smart wearables offer a smart and seamless suite of tools that can help achieve these goals and allow emergency responders to work more efficiently and safely. Here we examine how data from wearable devices can be used to improve health, safety and wellbeing of the firefighter.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Michael Devine

Raymond Bond

Victoria Simms

Karen Boyce

Daniel Kerr

Conference

Publication date: July 2018

Publication date (Print): July 2018

Pages: 1-5

Affiliations

[0001]Ulsterw University

School of Health Science

[0002]Ulster University

School of Computing

[0003]Ulster University

School of Psychology

[0004]Ulster University

Belfast School of Architecture and the Built Environment

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2018.116

SO-VID: b49dfa97-f3c7-47f0-9734-79192f25e179

License:

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Proceedings of the 32nd International BCS Human Computer Interaction Conference

Conference acronym: HCI

Conference number: 32

Conference location: Belfast, UK

Conference date: 4 - 6 July 2018

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Human Computer Interaction Conference

History

Product

1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2018.116

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

D. Barr (2010) The thermal ergonomics of firefighting reviewed Applied Ergonomics 41 161–172.
M. Buller (2015) Real-time core body temperature estimation from heart rate for first responders wearing different levels of personal protective equipment Ergonomics 58 1830–1841.
R. Daniels (2013) Exposure-response relationships for select cancer and non-cancer health outcomes in a cohort of US firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia (1950 – 2009) Occupational and Environmental Medicine 72 699–706.
D. Dupré (2018) Dynamic Model of Athletes' Emotions Based on Wearable Devices International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics Los Angeles 17 July 2017 42-50 Springer, Cham.
K. Fent (2017) Contamination of firefighter personal protective equipment and skin and the effectiveness of decontamination procedures Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 14 801–814.
Fire and Rescue Authority. (2014) Operational Guidance – Breathing Apparatus The Stationary Office Norwich.
Firefighter Fitness Joint Working Group. (2016) Firefighter fitness best practice guide. Home Office: National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services.
J. Foster (1994) Measurements of the Firefighting Environment ODPM Publications Wetherby, UK.
C. Grant (2015) Realizing the Vision of Smart Fire Fighting IEEE Potentials 34 35–40.
A. Hamins (2014) Smart Firefighting Workshop Summary Report NIST Arlington, Virginia.
Hampshire FireRescue Service. (2013) Fatal Fire Investigation: Report of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service investigation into the deaths of Firefighters Alan Bannon and James Shears in Flat 72 Shirley Towers, Church Street, Southampton, SO15 5PE, on Tuesday 6 April 2010. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.
S. Kales (2014) Sudden cardiac death in the fire service Occupational Medicine 64 228–230.
N. Meadows (2016) Stephen Alan Hunt Regulation 28. Report to prevent future deaths Office of the Chief Coroner.
S. Petruzzello 2009 Perceptual and physiological heat strain: Examination in firefighters in laboratory- and field-based studies Ergonomics 52 747–754.
C. Savacool (2015) Exposure Tracking App Aims to Help Prevent Chronic Firefighter Illnesses http://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/articles/print/volume-20/issue-10/departments/tool-tech/exposure-tracking-app-aims-to-help-prevent-chronic-firefighter-illnesses.html. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
C. Schmit (2017) Cognitive Functioning and Heat Strain: Performance Responses and Protective Strategies Sports Medicine 47 1289–1302.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. (2016) Lessons Identified Report from the Balmoral Bar Incident Dalry Road, Edinburgh 12 July 2009 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
A. Siddall (2014) Lifestyle behaviours, well-being and chronic disease biomarkers in UK operational firefighters 61st Annual Meeting of American College of Sports Medicine Florida 27 May 2014 Florida.
D. Smith (1996) Physiological, psychophysical, and psychological responses of firefighters to firefighting training drills Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine 67 1063-1068
A. Sullivan (2017) Behavior Change with Fitness Technology in Sedentary Adults: A Review of the Evidence for Increasing Physical Activity Frontiers in Public Health 4 289.
The Fire Brigades Union. (2008) In the line of duty. Firefighter deaths in the UK since 1978 The Fire Brigades Union, Bradley House 68 Coombe Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey. KT2 7AE
A. Walker (2017) Improving Body Composition May Reduce the Immune and Inflammatory Responses of Firefighters Working in the Heat Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 59 377–383.
E. Watkins (2018) Fire service instructors' working practices: A UK Survey Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health 73 1–28.
P. Watt (2016) Physiological and psychological responses in Fire Instructors to heat exposures Journal of Thermal Biology 58 106–114.
A. Watterson (2014) Firefighter fatalities at fires in the UK: 2004-2013: Voices from the fireground. Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group institutionUniversity of Stirling, Scotland .
A. Williams (2014) Fire service pensions review Occupational medicine 64 230-232.

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] D. Barr (2010) The thermal ergonomics of firefighting reviewed Applied Ergonomics 41 161–172.

[2] M. Buller (2015) Real-time core body temperature estimation from heart rate for first responders wearing different levels of personal protective equipment Ergonomics 58 1830–1841.

[3] R. Daniels (2013) Exposure-response relationships for select cancer and non-cancer health outcomes in a cohort of US firefighters from San Francisco, Chicago and Philadelphia (1950 – 2009) Occupational and Environmental Medicine 72 699–706.

[4] D. Dupré (2018) Dynamic Model of Athletes' Emotions Based on Wearable Devices International Conference on Applied Human Factors and Ergonomics Los Angeles 17 July 2017 42-50 Springer, Cham.

[5] K. Fent (2017) Contamination of firefighter personal protective equipment and skin and the effectiveness of decontamination procedures Journal of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene 14 801–814.

[6] Fire and Rescue Authority. (2014) Operational Guidance – Breathing Apparatus The Stationary Office Norwich.

[7] Firefighter Fitness Joint Working Group. (2016) Firefighter fitness best practice guide. Home Office: National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services.

[8] J. Foster (1994) Measurements of the Firefighting Environment ODPM Publications Wetherby, UK.

[9] C. Grant (2015) Realizing the Vision of Smart Fire Fighting IEEE Potentials 34 35–40.

[10] A. Hamins (2014) Smart Firefighting Workshop Summary Report NIST Arlington, Virginia.

[11] Hampshire FireRescue Service. (2013) Fatal Fire Investigation: Report of the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service investigation into the deaths of Firefighters Alan Bannon and James Shears in Flat 72 Shirley Towers, Church Street, Southampton, SO15 5PE, on Tuesday 6 April 2010. Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service.

[12] S. Kales (2014) Sudden cardiac death in the fire service Occupational Medicine 64 228–230.

[13] N. Meadows (2016) Stephen Alan Hunt Regulation 28. Report to prevent future deaths Office of the Chief Coroner.

[14] S. Petruzzello 2009 Perceptual and physiological heat strain: Examination in firefighters in laboratory- and field-based studies Ergonomics 52 747–754.

[15] C. Savacool (2015) Exposure Tracking App Aims to Help Prevent Chronic Firefighter Illnesses http://www.fireapparatusmagazine.com/articles/print/volume-20/issue-10/departments/tool-tech/exposure-tracking-app-aims-to-help-prevent-chronic-firefighter-illnesses.html. Retrieved 13 April 2018.

[16] C. Schmit (2017) Cognitive Functioning and Heat Strain: Performance Responses and Protective Strategies Sports Medicine 47 1289–1302.

[17] Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. (2016) Lessons Identified Report from the Balmoral Bar Incident Dalry Road, Edinburgh 12 July 2009 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

[18] A. Siddall (2014) Lifestyle behaviours, well-being and chronic disease biomarkers in UK operational firefighters 61st Annual Meeting of American College of Sports Medicine Florida 27 May 2014 Florida.

[19] D. Smith (1996) Physiological, psychophysical, and psychological responses of firefighters to firefighting training drills Aviation Space and Environmental Medicine 67 1063-1068

[20] A. Sullivan (2017) Behavior Change with Fitness Technology in Sedentary Adults: A Review of the Evidence for Increasing Physical Activity Frontiers in Public Health 4 289.

[21] The Fire Brigades Union. (2008) In the line of duty. Firefighter deaths in the UK since 1978 The Fire Brigades Union, Bradley House 68 Coombe Road, Kingston Upon Thames, Surrey. KT2 7AE

[22] A. Walker (2017) Improving Body Composition May Reduce the Immune and Inflammatory Responses of Firefighters Working in the Heat Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 59 377–383.

[23] E. Watkins (2018) Fire service instructors' working practices: A UK Survey Archives of Environmental & Occupational Health 73 1–28.

[24] P. Watt (2016) Physiological and psychological responses in Fire Instructors to heat exposures Journal of Thermal Biology 58 106–114.

[25] A. Watterson (2014) Firefighter fatalities at fires in the UK: 2004-2013: Voices from the fireground. Occupational and Environmental Health Research Group institutionUniversity of Stirling, Scotland .

[26] A. Williams (2014) Fire service pensions review Occupational medicine 64 230-232.

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