Energy Costs of Simulated Stair Climbing as a Job-Related Task in Fire Fighting

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the energy requirement of simulated stair climbing. Metabolic costs of climbing stairs in getting to the scene of a fire can be very demanding for fire personnel. Heart rate and oxygen consumption were measured on 17 fighters during each of three co...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of occupational medicine 1986-04, Vol.28 (4), p.282-284
Main Authors: O'Connell, Eugene R., Thomas, Phillip C., Cady, Lee D., Karwasky, Robert J.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Applied physiology
Biological and medical sciences
Fires
Heart Rate
Human physiology applied to population studies and life conditions. Human ecophysiology
Humans
Medical sciences
Occupations
ORIGINAL ARTICLES
Oxygen Consumption
Physical Exertion
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Summary:The purpose of this investigation was to determine the energy requirement of simulated stair climbing. Metabolic costs of climbing stairs in getting to the scene of a fire can be very demanding for fire personnel. Heart rate and oxygen consumption were measured on 17 fighters during each of three conditions: (1) stair climbing without fire-fighting uniform or equipment, (2) stair climbing with fire-fighting uniform and equipment, and (3) pedaling a bicycle ergometer in a graded maximal exercise test. These three conditions were designed to determine (1) baseline reference values, (2) actual work task measures, and (3) maximum reference values. Results showed that climbing stairs with an 8-inch rise at 60 steps per minute with fire fighter's uniform and equipment (86.5 pounds) for five minutes required heart rates to reach 95% (84 to 100) of maximum effort, and oxygen consumption measures were found to be 80% (63 to 97) of maximum. It was concluded for the personnel studied that the rate of energy cost of climbing a simulated staircase with uniform and equipment required an ability to consume at least 2.7 L of oxygen per minute and 39 mL/kg/min.
ISSN:0096-1736
2332-3795