Comparison of the effect of typical firefighting activities, live fire drills and rescue operations at height on firefighters’ physiological responses and cognitive function

This study examined the impact of various types of firefighting activities on firefighters’
physiological responses and cognitive function. Each firefighter was engaged in three conditions:
(1) Live-fire activities (LFA), (2) Typical firefighting activities (TFA), and (3) Rescue operations
at height (ROH). The effects of various types of firefighting activities on the physiological
responses and cognitive function were evaluated by heart rate (HR), temporal artery temperature
(TT), and the correct response (CR) on a cognitive test. The results indicated that, compared to
the baseline, physiological response increased, while information processing performance
decreased after the activity. Furthermore, HR and TT were significantly lower at the end of the
firefighting activity in the LFA (149.33 bpm; 38.08 ○C) compared with the TFA (152.22 bpm;
38.17 ○C) and ROH (159.28 bpm; 38.24 ○C) conditions. Also, CR was significantly higher at the
end of the activity in the LFA and TFA compared with the ROH condition. The results showed
that rescue at height was more intensive than the other firefighting tasks in decreasing
physiological and cognitive function capacity after the experiment