title: Ice cooling vest on tolerance for exercise under uncompensable heat stress.
abstract: This study was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a commercial, personal ice cooling vest on tolerance for exercise in hot (35°C), wet (65% relative humidity) conditions with a nuclear biological chemical suit (NBC). On three separate occasions, 10 male volunteers walked on a treadmill at 3 miles per hour and 2% incline while (a) seminude (denoted CON), (b) dressed with a nuclear, biological, chemical (NBC) suit with an ice vest (V) worn under the suit (denoted NBCwV); or (c) dressed with an NBC suit but without an ice vest (V) (denoted NBCwoV). Participants exercised for 120 min or until volitional fatigue, or esophageal temperature reached 39.5°C. Esophageal temperature (T(es)), heart rate (HR), thermal sensation, and ratings of perceived exertion were measured. Exercise time was significantly greater in CON compared with both NBCwoV and NBCwV (p < 0.05), whereas T(es), thermal sensation, heart rate, and rate of perceived exertion were lower (p < 0.05). Wearing the ice vest increased exercise time (NBCwoV, 103.6 ± 7.0 min; NBCwV, 115.9 ± 4.1 min) and reduced the level of thermal strain, as evidenced by a lower T(es) at end-exercise (NBCwoV, 39.03 ± 0.13°C; NBCwV, 38.74 ± 0.13°C) and reduced thermal sensation (NBCwoV, 6.4 ± 0.4; NBCwV, 4.8 ± 0.6). This was paralleled by a decrease in rate of perceived exertion (NBCwoV, 14.7 ± 1.6; NBCwV, 12.4 ± 1.6) (p < 0.05) and heat rate (NBCwoV, 169 ± 6; NBCwV, 159 ± 7) (p < 0.05). We show that a commercially available cooling vest can significantly reduce the level of thermal strain during work performed in hot environments.
authors.affiliation: University of Ottawa, Faculty of Health Sciences, Human and Environmental Physiology Research Unit, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. gkenny@uottawa.ca
authors.forename: Glen P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Kenny
authors.forename: Andrew R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Schissler
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Stapleton
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Piamonte
authors.forename: Konrad
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Binder
authors.forename: Aaron
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lynn
authors.forename: Christopher Q
authors.initials: CQ
authors.lastname: Lan
authors.forename: Stephen G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Hardcastle
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001831:Body Temperature / Q000502:physiology*; D001833:Body Temperature Regulation / Q000502:physiology*; D003080:Cold Temperature; D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology; D005080:Exercise Test; D017079:Exercise Tolerance; D006339:Heart Rate / Q000502:physiology; D018882:Heat Stress Disorders / Q000517:prevention & control*; D006801:Humans; D007053:Ice; D008297:Male; D011481:Protective Clothing; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis; D013697:Thermosensing; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D007053:Ice