An ideal electronic fireground management system will incorporate sensors that can detect environmental hazards, monitor the physiologic status of fire fighters working under conditions of extreme heat and exertion, and continuously display the identities and location of all personnel. Technology solutions are sought because of the unacceptable death, injury and disability rates seen in the fire service. The proposed project focuses on remote physiologic status monitoring of personnel wearing PPE through SCBA-based oximetry systems, radio-telemetry and processing software. During Phase I, BioAsyst will empirically optimize the distance between the oximeter's sensor emitters and detector elements to ensure signal reliability in reflectance mode at the forehead. BioAsyst will design, construct, and validate a small number of sensorized SCBA masks and refine processing algorithms for this application. The hardware and software will then be used in a series of experiments to identify predictive parameters with utility for real time fire ground monitoring. Phase II will calibrate alarm levels to individual physiologic responses, resulting in a reliable, user-customized remote monitoring system. Phase III will oversee initial production and marketing. BioAsyst will continue to expand the capabilities of the device, incorporating additional sensing capabilities as they mature.
The commercial markets for this device include foreign and domestic fire service personnel, hazmat responders, the combat and hazardous duty military, mining, confined space operations, and basic research applications.
| Van Gelder, Carin M; Pranger, L Alex; Wiesmann, William P et al. (2008) An experimental model of heat storage in working firefighters. Prehosp Emerg Care 12:225-35 |
