Physiological and Perceived Effects of Forearm or Head Cooling During Simulated Firefighting Activity and Rehabilitation.

CONTEXT: Cooling devices aim to protect firefighters by attenuating a rise in body temperature. Devices for head cooling (HC) while firefighting and forearm cooling (FC) during rehabilitation (RHB) intervals are commonly marketed, but research regarding their efficacy is limited. OBJECTIVE: To investigate the physiological and perceived effects of HC and FC during firefighting drills and RHB. DESIGN: Randomized controlled clinical trial. SETTING: Firefighter training center. PATIENTS OR OTHER PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-seven male career firefighters (age = 39 ± 7 years; height = 169 ± 7 cm; weight = 95.4 ± 16.8 kg). INTERVENTION(S): Firefighters were randomly assigned to 1 condition: HC (n = 9), in which participants completed drills wearing a cold gel pack inside their helmet; FC (n = 8), in which participants sat on a collapsible chair with water-immersion arm troughs during RHB; or control (n = 10), in which participants used no cooling devices. Firefighters completed four 15-minute drills (D1-D4) wearing full bunker gear and breathing apparatus. Participants had a 15-min RHB after D2 (RHB1) and D4 (RHB2). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE(S): Change (Δ) in gastrointestinal temperature (T RESULTS: The T CONCLUSIONS: The HC did not attenuate rises in physiological or perceptual variables during firefighting drills. The FC effectively reduced