Law enforcement personnel increasingly utilize personal
protective equipment (PPE) when exposed to
potentially hazardous chemical, biological, radiological,
and nuclear (CBRN) materials. Methamphetamine
labs, bioterrorism threats, and anthrax are examples of
situations that require the PPE designed for CBRN
materials (or PPE-CBRN).
1–4
While this gear provides
clear health and safety benefits for law enforcement
personnel, wearing encapsulating PPE-CBRN also
impedes the loss of excess body heat. Heart rate
(HR), core temperature (T
(T
sk
c
), and skin temperature
) all increase with the use of encapsulating PPECBRN.
Wearing PPE-CBRN in combination with the
physical labor requirements of law enforcement results
in an increase in thermal strain, which in turn may be
associated with performance decrements in physical
and cognitive tasks.
5,6