2. Method
2.1. Participants
Seven members (five male and two female) of the Missouri
National Guard’s Civil Support Team (CST) volunteered as study
participants. The authors felt it was important to have highly
experienced individuals as research participants, and hence the CST
was approached. The team had extensive training and experience
working in Level A suits as part of their duty assignments. However,
being a small and highly specialized teamthat is responsible for the
entire state of Missouri, the CST was not always available for data
collection during the period of study. Members were both male and
female and between 24 and 41 years of age, with the mean age of
participants being 33.85 years. Before testing, participants were
briefed and shown the equipment. They were allowed to ask
questions about the protocol, equipment, and voice any other
concerns they had. All participants read and signed a consent form
prior to participation in this study. The data collection was conducted
in a large covered garage in a controlled, moderately cool
environment.