VALFIS Research Group, Institute of Biomedicine, University of León, 24071 León, Spain.
Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 May 11;18(10):5050. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18105050.
The Pack Test (PT) is a widely used test to establish readiness for work in wildland firefighting. It is common to perform this test dressed in regular exercise clothing. However, wildland firefighters (WFF) have to wear personal protective equipment (PPE) during their deployments, which increases the physiological strain and reduces their work capacity. This study aimed to analyse the impact of full PPE on PT performance. Nine male professional WFF performed in random order a PT walking at the fastest possible self-pace wearing two different clothing configurations: (i) traditional short sports gear (SG) and (ii) the PPE currently used by Spanish WFF. Heart rate (HR), rating of perceived exertion and lap time were recorded during the PT. In addition, oxygen uptake (VO) was estimated through the individual VO-HR relationship previously obtained during a graded exercise test. There was a significant decrease in the PT performance (i.e., completion time) (12%, < 0.05) in PPE. The physiological demands with this configuration were significantly higher (10%, < 0.05). WFF spent ~13 min above the anaerobic threshold in PPE vs. ~4 min in SG. A multiple stepwise regression analysis revealed that PT performance variation might be explained by the maximal aerobic velocity (84.5%) in PPE and the VO (75.9%) in SG. In conclusion, wearing complete PPE increases WFF's physiological strain, which translates into a significant PT performance reduction. Performing the test walking at the fastest possible self-pace wearing the PPE would better reflect the high-intensity effort periods reported in real scenarios.
背包测试（PT）是一种广泛用于确定野外消防人员工作准备情况的测试。通常情况下，穿着常规运动服进行此测试。然而，野外消防员（WFF）在部署期间必须穿着个人防护装备（PPE），这会增加生理压力并降低他们的工作能力。本研究旨在分析全 PPE 对 PT 性能的影响。9 名男性专业 WFF 以随机顺序穿着两种不同的服装配置以最快的自定速度进行 PT 步行：（i）传统的短运动装备（SG）和（ii）西班牙 WFF 当前使用的 PPE。在 PT 期间记录心率（HR）、感知用力程度和圈速。此外，通过之前在分级运动测试中获得的个体 VO-HR 关系来估计耗氧量（VO）。在 PPE 中，PT 性能（即完成时间）明显下降（12%，<0.05）。这种配置下的生理需求明显更高（10%，<0.05）。WFF 在 PPE 中花费了约 13 分钟以上的无氧阈值，而在 SG 中花费了约 4 分钟。多元逐步回归分析表明，PT 性能变化可能由 PPE 中的最大有氧速度（84.5%）和 SG 中的 VO（75.9%）解释。总之，穿着完整的 PPE 会增加 WFF 的生理压力，这会导致 PT 性能明显下降。穿着 PPE 以最快的自定速度进行测试步行将更好地反映实际场景中报告的高强度努力期。
