Human Variability Correction Factors for Use with Simplified Engineering Tools for Predicting Pain and Second Degree Skin Burns

Wieczorek, Christopher J.; Dembsey, Nicholas A.

doi:10.1106/0d9u-klp9-tg1p-xj1b

Cited by 19 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 12 publications

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“…However, no burn injury was reported in this study. This fact might be related to the temperature of the skin since together with the intensity, duration and wavelength of heat source determine the response of humans to heat pain and injury (Wieczoreck and Dembsey, 2001).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Wildland Firefighters’ Thermal Environment During Live-Fire Suppression

et al. 2019

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Wildland firefighters work under adverse environments (e.g., heat and fire exposure), which contribute to increasing the heat strain. Despite this there is a paucity of knowledge about the thermal environment in real wildfire suppression scenarios. Therefore, the main purpose of this study was to characterize the environmental thermal exposure and the risk of heat burn injuries during real wildfire suppression ( n = 23). To characterize the wildland firefighter’s ( n = 5) local thermal exposure, measurements of air temperature and heat flux were performed. Heat flux measurements were made using four thin-planar heat flux sensors. Two were affixed on the outer surface of the garment on the left chest and thigh. Two other sensors were placed on the inner surface of the fabric in parallel to those placed externally. Four thermal classes were defined based on the heat flux across the inner sensors (≤1000, ≤5000, ≤7000, and >7000 W⋅m –2 ). The risk of pain and first-degree burns were calculated using the dose of thermal radiation method. The inner sensors mean and maximum heat flux and environment temperature were 286.7 ± 255.0 and 2370.4 ± 3004.5 W⋅m –2 and 32.6 ± 8.9 and 78.0 ± 8.9°C, respectively. Approximately 81, 15, and 3.5% of the exposure time the heat flux was ≤1000, >1000–5000, and >5000 W⋅m –2 , respectively. The highest average and maximum thermal dose values were ∼94 and ∼110 (kW⋅m –2 ) 4/3 ⋅s. In conclusion, the thermal exposure obtained may be considered light. However, high thermal exposure values may be obtained in punctual moments, which can elicit first-degree burns.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Characterizing Wildland Firefighters’ Thermal Environment During Live-Fire Suppression

et al. 2019

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“…Also, the activity level of the individual during exposure affects the uptake of the particular gas into the body, which influences the severity level of the effect(s) experienced by the person. Those individuals more susceptible to heat effects are people with higher skin temperatures (in the case of skin burns) and thinner skin thickness (in the case of skin blisters) [22]. An individual's initial skin temperature can vary significantly (between 27 to 38 °C) among people based on attributes such as age, sex, occupation, physical activity, and pregnancy [22].…”

Section: Report Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Those individuals more susceptible to heat effects are people with higher skin temperatures (in the case of skin burns) and thinner skin thickness (in the case of skin blisters) [22]. An individual's initial skin temperature can vary significantly (between 27 to 38 °C) among people based on attributes such as age, sex, occupation, physical activity, and pregnancy [22]. Data on susceptible populations are outside of the scope of this report.…”

Section: Report Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Compilation of data on the sublethal effects of fire effluent

Kuligowski¹

2009

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The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is developing guidance for performing quantitative human reliability analysis for post-fire mitigative human actions. In some of the scenarios, operators may be exposed to fire effluent as they perform critical tasks. In this report, the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) provides a review of the state-of-the-art on how fire effluent might affect people. The available scientific literature on the effects of narcotic and irritant gases, smoke obscuration, and heat on humans and animals were reviewed. The fire effluent data presented in this report are categorized by levels of effect on humans; specifically 1) minor physiological effects that are unlikely affect job performance or duties, 2) moderate to major physiological effects that may negatively influence job performance or duties, and 3) major physiological effects that may render an individual unable to perform his/her job duties. Where possible, NIST has identified groupings and/or contradictions for the compiled exposure data. With this information, one can estimate how exposure to various fire effluent might affect the operators' ability to perform critical procedures during a fire event.

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“…Apart from the psychological effects, the skin damage to an evacuee caused by the incident thermal radiant heat flux q R (kW m À2 ) is the primary safety concern. Skin injury begins when the skin temperature exceeds 44 C [14,15]. The amount of damage is a function of the skin temperature and the period of time for which the temperature exceeds the limit.…”

Section: Hazard Of Thermal Radiationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The smoke layer temperature would not be high enough to produce a direct hazard to life. However, an evacuee could experience some psychological effects of heat due to the thermal radiation from a hot smoke layer in a fire environment which would affect his/her decision in choosing an appropriate escape route [13][14][15]. Also, the possible thermal injury to the skin due to the thermal radiant heat flux would be one of the primary concerns in assessing the safety of an occupant during evacuation [16][17][18].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hazard of Thermal Radiation from a Hot Smoke Layer in Enclosures to an Evacuee

Wong

2005

Journal of Fire Sciences

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The architectural fire safety design of corridors as a component of emergency building evacuation is examined from the perspective of a maximum escape distance by the occupant in order not to experience skin pain or skin burn from exposure to the thermal radiation of a hot smoke layer. In this work, empirical expressions have been proposed to approximate an evacuee to study the thermal hazard. The maximum escape distance is calculated from the exposure time limit of the evacuee and the thermal radiant heat flux falling upon the evacuee's head at some walking speeds. The range of the maximum escape distance and its dependence on corridor's parameters are determined for the typical width of a corridor, the smoke layer temperature and the smoke layer depth. The length of a corridor for safe escape can be determined as a function of the corridor's width, smoke layer depth and temperature, at the walking speeds of evacuees. The maximum escape distance can be used as a quantitative design criterion for the design of corridors and similar structures where a hot smoke layer is expected.

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Human Variability Correction Factors for Use with Simplified Engineering Tools for Predicting Pain and Second Degree Skin Burns

Cited by 19 publications

References 12 publications

Characterizing Wildland Firefighters’ Thermal Environment During Live-Fire Suppression

Characterizing Wildland Firefighters’ Thermal Environment During Live-Fire Suppression

Compilation of data on the sublethal effects of fire effluent

Hazard of Thermal Radiation from a Hot Smoke Layer in Enclosures to an Evacuee

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