TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2023//
TI  - Impact of fire protective equipment and the self-contained breathing apparatus on peak exercise in males and females
JO  - Ergonomics
A1  - Dreger, Randy William
SP  - ePub
EP  - ePub
VL  - ePub
IS  - ePub
N2  - With an increase in the number of females entering the fire service it is important to understand potential impact of personal protective equipment (PPE) on females. This study compared selected physiological responses during two graded exercise tests (GXT) performed in a counterbalanced design: GXT(PT) - wearing athletic clothing while breathing through a low-resistance valve; and GXT(PPE) - wearing PPE and breathing from a self-contained breathing apparatus (SCBA). Sixteen males and 15 females acted as participants. VO(2)peak was significantly lower, by approximately 15%, during the GXT(PPE) compared to the GXT(PT) condition for both the males and females. Physiologically, the decreased oxygen consumption was strongly related to an attenuated ventilation (r = 0.75 and 0.71) and oxygen pulse (r = 0.94 and 0.93) for the males and females, respectively. The results of this investigation demonstrate that the SCBA and PPE impacts males and females to a similar relative extent and manner.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0014-0139
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00140139.2023.2168766
ID  - ref1
ER  -