Integration of thermal stress measurement systems in fireproof professional garments

Fireproof professional garments must protect to the extent possible firefighters from damages, either direct (caused by fire) or indirect (caused by excessive heat). In some cases, risks are not associated to an immediate cause, but to a long exposure to heat sources causing excessive thermal stress to the human body. Firefight equipment currently available does not include any means to detect thermal stress, so firefighters can suffer severe accidents that may lead to death. This paper presents a system to measure the thermal stress firefighters are exposed to during a fire intervention. The main requirements of the system are first identified, taking into account that it has to be integrated in fireproof garments. Then the design process and the resulting system are described. Experimental results are presented to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed solution.