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Permalink Reply by Mike Schlags (Captain Busy) Retd on October 6, 2011 at 1:53pm

http://my.firefighternation.com/forum/topics/heat-stress-prevention...

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Permalink Reply by Miguel Browen on October 6, 2011 at 7:35pm

Mike,

 

This is great! It is exactly what we were thinking..haha. With the technology and all of the comments I can already see some ways to improve on the current product. Being in school, we are allowed to be pretty conceptual with the project so it's very nice knowing that the technology exists and that many are ecstatic about wanting one.

 

Some further steps we would take would be to monitor blood pressure and other signs of a potential heart attack. We would like to individualize the technology to cater to each fire fighter's current and past health situation. Making sure the technology and communication devices work properly and without failure in the highest of heat situations will also be a concern of ours, so maybe where it's located on the body and the materials that encase the electronics will be another one of our focuses.

 

Thanks again Mike! Great sharing the same name as well!

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Permalink Reply by John Crabbe on October 6, 2011 at 7:59pm

Our current direction is looking into monitoring the vital signs of each individual firefighter while in the fireground to prevent heart attacks or even strokes. Being able to see your own vital signs could help prevent an even more serious situation than you are already in. The Chief would also be able to monitor each firefighters vitals and be able to communicate with them if a problem occurs.

 

Much of this we accomplish with regular rehab and have set standards in place regarding vitals, etc and if a person is able to go back in to work. We don't have any remote monitoring equipment as alluded to here and I think there are issues with such things too.

 

Yeah, yeah I know it is all about resistance to change right? Well what I am bringing up are valid types of concerns that do face the fire service today. Number one is money, how much would something cost to implement. Yes, this is a very valid concern because budgets are tight and what trade offs are subsequently made for a dept to afford this? Do you give up on say flat pack SCBAs? New PPE? Health and Wellness program? These are the decisions that would have to be made by a dept and given the current state of economic conditions and more demands of reduced govt, such stuff would be tough to afford. Which means such technology would have to be very cost effective to be appealing.

 

Another aspect is the monitoring of vitals on scene, who does this? Another aspect facing the fire service is reduced staffing. It would be difficult for an IC to run a scene AND monitor vitals of people at the same time. So one would think you would almost have to dedicate a person just to such monitoring, which isn't always practical. Along the same lines is monitoring personal vitals. There is enough to already worry about from air supply, radio communications, fire/smoke conditions, tactics, etc let alone vitals. Yeah you are working, vitals will increase, but at what point is it deemed to pull out? I'm also not sure of how to effectively monitor blood pressure without a cuff or something more invasive.

 

 

Really, I don't mean to discourage here, but much of what you are looking to accomplish here can be dealt with with a good and effective rehab system. Along the same lines there should be annual physicals and medical screenings, which many dept don't do.

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