Scientists from the University Medical Center Radbud in the Netherlands tested cooling vests initially intended for elite athletes, with the participation of medical staff, which accounts for a long time to be in the departments of the Kovid-19 in full configuration of personal protective equipment (PPE).
Individual protection means are often the cause of significant discomfort in the form of thermal stress. Most test participants reported that they feel more comfortable during the wear of the vest, and now it is part of the standard SIZ recruitment at the University of Radbud.
PPE is crucial to ensure the safety of medical personnel during the CAID-19 pandemic, but this does not mean that wearing such clothes are easy. Such a set may be inconvenient and bulky, and during long-term wearing it can cause significant problems with heat. Researchers behind the current study report that the temperature under the costumes of medical personnel can reach 36 degrees Celsius during a shift in which PPE was worn three hours in a row.
Improving the level of medical personnel comfort will make their work more pleasant and can help them work more efficiently. It inspired researchers to adapt a cooler vest, intended for the use of athletes on the summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Such vests were not immediately suitable for medical staff, because they were designed for rapid cooling before or after physical exertion. Work in the "Red Zone" includes long-term use, so the cooling capacity of the modified vest is lower, but it works longer.
Before use, vests were kept in the refrigerator and provided the department of separation in a mobile refrigerator. They consist of 36 pockets containing cooling material in a thermoplastic polyurethane sheath. The staff wore vests over the uniform, but under PP.
During the test with the participation of 17 nurses, they reported that they felt more comfortable during the wearing vests, although their influence on the body temperature was minimal. Nurses in vests had a lower pulse during work, which suggests that they may have been more relaxed. Almost all testing participants said that the cooler vest can work without tension, as usual without protective clothing.