TY - JOUR
T1 - Comparison of firefighters and non-firefighters and the test methods used regarding the effects of personal protective equipment on individual mobility
AU - Son, Su Young
AU - Bakri, Ilham
AU - Muraki, Satoshi
AU - Tochihara, Yutaka
N1 - Funding Information:
We would like to express our thanks to Mr. Mutsuhiro Fujiwara and Ms. Shizuka Umezaki for their technical support and administrative advice. We would like to convey special thanks to Dr. Titis Wijayanto and Ms. Colleen Mathieu for their advice and cordial assistance, also. This study was supported by the Promotion Program for Fire and Disaster Prevention Technologies, Japan .
PY - 2014/7
Y1 - 2014/7
N2 - The aims of this study were 1) to evaluate the current pilot test method and ascertain reliable measurements for a standard test method of mobility with personal protective equipment (PPE), such as physical performance and balance ability tests; 2) to compare two participant groups (firefighters versus non-firefighters) and to investigate whether non-firefighters are appropriate as a standard participant group in the field of PPE or not. Totally, 18 participants (nine professional firefighters and nine untrained males) performed the current pilot test method consisting of a balance test, completed prior to and after a performance test. Significant differences were found between PPE conditions and CON (the control clothing ensemble: T-shirt, shorts, and running shoes) for the functional balance test, physical performance test, heart rate, and subjective evaluations in firefighters group. Therefore, the present pilot test method is valid as a standard test method for assessing mobility while wearing PPE. Moreover, the present result shows that firefighters are more reliable than non-firefighters in testing of PPE with current test methods.
AB - The aims of this study were 1) to evaluate the current pilot test method and ascertain reliable measurements for a standard test method of mobility with personal protective equipment (PPE), such as physical performance and balance ability tests; 2) to compare two participant groups (firefighters versus non-firefighters) and to investigate whether non-firefighters are appropriate as a standard participant group in the field of PPE or not. Totally, 18 participants (nine professional firefighters and nine untrained males) performed the current pilot test method consisting of a balance test, completed prior to and after a performance test. Significant differences were found between PPE conditions and CON (the control clothing ensemble: T-shirt, shorts, and running shoes) for the functional balance test, physical performance test, heart rate, and subjective evaluations in firefighters group. Therefore, the present pilot test method is valid as a standard test method for assessing mobility while wearing PPE. Moreover, the present result shows that firefighters are more reliable than non-firefighters in testing of PPE with current test methods.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.apergo.2013.12.006
DO - 10.1016/j.apergo.2013.12.006
M3 - Article
C2 - 24462474
AN - SCOPUS:84899076355
VL - 45
SP - 1019
EP - 1027
JO - Applied Ergonomics
JF - Applied Ergonomics
SN - 0003-6870
IS - 4
ER -