Selected physiological and psychobiological responses to physical activity in different configurations of firefighting gear

The aim was to examine selected physiological and psychobiological responses to different configurations of protective firefighting gear. Career firefighters (n = 10) walked on a treadmill (3·5 km · h⁻¹, 10% grade) for 15 min in three different clothing configurations. On separate days subjects wore: (a) ‘station blues’, (b) a hip boot configuration of firefighting gear, and (c) the current ‘NFPA 1500 standard’ gear. Physiological, psychophysical, and psychological measurements were recorded pre-exercise (5 min), during exercise (15 min), and during post-exercise recovery (10min). Repeated measures ANOVA revealed significant main effects for condition, time, and interaction (p < 0·001) for heart rate (HR), rectal temperature, mean skin temperature, oxygen consumption, breathing distress, thermal sensations, and affect. Furthermore, post hoc analyses revealed that all variables were significantly higher in the NFPA 1500 standard versus the hip boot or the station blues clothing configurations. These data suggest that the current NFPA 1500 standard configuration results in greater physiological and psychobiological stress at a given workload.