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Title: The Efficacy of an Air-Cooling Vest to Reduce Thermal Strain for Light Armour Vehicle Personnel  (l’Efficacité d’une Veste de Refroidissement par air dans la Réduction du Stress Thermique Chez le Personnel des Véhicules Blindés Légers)
Author(s): McLellan, T.M.
Corporate author(s): Defence R&D Canada - Toronto, Toronto ONT (CAN)

Abstract: Light armour vehicle (LAV) personnel are being subjected to high ambient temperatures and radiant heat loads for hours during recent deployments to Afghanistan. One option to reduce the heat strain of crew members is to use the existing air-conditioning discharge outlets as a source of cool air to provide microclimate cooling through an individual air-vest. In this study, seven males were exposed to either hot, dry (HD, 49ºC, 10% relative humidity) or warm, humid (WH, 35ºC, 70% relative humidity) conditions while either receiving (C) or not receiving (NC) cooling through an air-vest. Inlet temperatures during C were 20ºC and 12ºC for the HD and WH conditions, respectively, based on findings reported by Hanna (1). The air-vest was worn over a T-shirt and underneath the armour crew coveralls. Subjects also wore a fragmentation vest, helmet and gloves and sat for 3 hours during the heat-stress exposures. All subjects completed the 3 hours of heat-stress exposure during all conditions but the rise in rectal temperature approached 2ºC during HD with NC. When C was provided the rise in rectal temperature was minimal throughout the heat stress. It was concluded that micro-climate conditioning was an effective way to reduce the thermal strain of LAV crew.
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Subject(s): Body temperature;Heat stress;Air cooling;Cooling systems;Combat vehicles;Heat tolerance;Thermoregulation;Armored vehicles;Lightweight armor;Human factors engineering
Keyword(s): Air-Cooling Vest;Thermal Strain;Mounted Soldiers;LAV (Light Armored Vehicle)