• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.21 no.1
• /
• pp.93-103
• /
• 1997

The purpose of this study was to investigate the actual performance of Korean firefighter's clothing through comparisons with protective clothing used in the United State, surveys of firefighter's opinion, and experiments on the material used in Korean firefighter's clothing. The paper presents experimental results as well as ways to improve current standards. The major results are as follows: 1. Korean protective clothing is too thin and too heavy. Thicker, lighter, and more heat- resistant fabric and a lighter trim should be used. 2. Korean protective clothing is not very water-resistant. A Water-resistant outershell and an innerliner which are made of air permeable and water resistant fabric must be used. 3. Korean protective clothing's outershell and innerliner should be made of fabric that is more heat-resistant, flame-resistant, and chemical resistant. 4. Protective clothing should be more brightly colored and its reflective tape should have greater reflectivity to make firefighters more visible. 5. The fastner currently used in Korean protective clothing consists of Velcro, a button, and a D-ring which can not be opened and closed quickly. A better fastener would have just velcro and a zipper. 6. The uniform for Korean firefighters consists of only a protective coat and boots. Protective trousers should be added to the standard uniform. Also, a thermal harrier should be used in winter to protect firefighters from the cold. 7. Korean firefighters should be provided with their own personal sets of protective clothing to ensure a proper fit.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.27 no.4
• /
• pp.56-60
• /
• 2013

The aim of study intends to investigate physiological changes according to workload wearing aluminized firefighter's protective clothing and to provide the base data for the safety of firefighter. The results of the study are as follows. To increase work intensity 4 to 8 METs after experiment (20 min), mean skin temperature change (33.3 %), tympanic temperature change (57.1 %) heart rate (32.5 %), RPE (75.6 %) is statistically significantly higher and thermal Sensation, weight loss are not statistically significant. It was concluded that physiological changes of human body varied considerably by increase of workload wearing aluminized firefighter's protective clothing.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.17-23
• /
• 2017

The test methods using convection (flame) and radiation heat sources were compared to evaluate the thermal protective performance of the firefighter's protective clothing. In particular, the influence of the outer shell, mid-layer, and lining constituting the firefighter's protective clothing on the thermal protective performance was compared for convection and radiation heat sources. Tests for the thermal protective performance were carried out according to KS K ISO 9151 (convection), KS K ISO 6942 (radiation), and KS K ISO 17492 (convection and radiation). When tested under the same incident heat flux conditions ($80kW/m^2$), the heat transfer index ($t_{12}$ and $t_{24}$) for the radiation heat source was higher than that for the convection heat source. This means that radiation has a lesser effect than convection. For the convection heat source, the lining had the greatest effect on the thermal protective performance, followed by the mid-layer and the outer shell. On the other hand, for the radiation heat source, the effect on the thermal protective performance was great in the order of lining, outer shell, and mid-layer. Convection and radiation have fundamentally different mechanisms of heat transfer, and different heat sources can lead to different thermal protective performance results depending on the material composition. Therefore, to evaluate the thermal protective performance of the firefighter's protective clothing, it is important to test not only the convection heat source, but also the radiation heat source.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
• /
• v.37 no.12 s.142
• /
• pp.59-67
• /
• 1999

This study analyzed firefighter's actual wearing condition of turnout gear The results are as fellows: 1. When a firefighter is employed, Korea applies only the minimum of firefighters stature and weight but America applies both the minimum and the maximum. The choice of size is highly related with stature more than chest circumference. 2. The satisfaction degree of thermal barrier is very low, 3%. They used rubber gloves rather than heatproof gloves. This is more serious in small country like 'up', 'myun' than in cities. For laundering, they used sprinkling method with firefighting hose. Firefigthers hoped that their clothes could be classified tv the seasons and fire places. 3. frefighter had high unsatisfaction with the movement of hands and leges in the aspect of movement adjustability, air permeability, weight, body temperature regulation, and breathing in the hygenic aspect, fire resistance, thermal resistance property, water proof, chemical reactivity and electrical conductivity. Thev were also unsatisfied with water proof boots and gloves. They were generally satisfied with helmets but firefighters over 90kg of weight were rather unsatisfied. 4. The satisfaction degree for physical fitness was very low and the items with which they were not satisfied depend on physical features. 5. To develop turnout gear, they wanted changes in design, material and size. Reflection tape need to be replaced with high quality products and they wanted the use of velcro and zipper in fastening system.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.34 no.3
• /
• pp.110-115
• /
• 2020

The aim of this study was to investigate the wearing acceptability of chemical protective clothing during fires and to provide basic data for the safety of firefighters. The results of the study were as follows: Wearer acceptabilities of chemical protective clothing under static movement (e.g., looking at the ceiling with maximum head bending, wrapping one's arms around oneself, sitting obliquely on the floor, and maintaining a crouching position) were 21.7%-47.8% lower than those of general uniforms. When wearing chemical protective suits, the acceptability under static movement was statistically low (p < .001). Wearer acceptabilities of chemical protective clothing under dynamic movement (e.g., running, lifting a heavy object (20 kg) up to the waist, lifting and moving a heavy object (20 kg) by 1 m, lifting a stretcher and walking forward, and lifting a stretcher and walking backward) were 19.2%-47.8% lower than those of general uniforms. When wearing chemical protective suits, the acceptability under dynamic movement was also statistically low (p < .001).

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.4
• /
• pp.35-41
• /
• 2018

The purpose of study intends to investigate effects of repetitive work and workload for body while wearing firefighting protective clothing in hot conditions and to provide the basic data for the safety of firefighter. The experimental temperature is WBGT $30^{\circ}C$ and the work intensity is 3, 9 METs. The experiment is processed 15 minutes (Ex1), 15 minutes rest (Rest), 15 minutes (Ex2) in order of time. A comparative experiment was carried out for firefighting school students(9 persons; $24.3{\pm}0.71$ years old) wearing firefighting protective clothing. When workload is increased from 3 METs to 9 METs, mean skin temperature change (33.3%), tympanic temperature change (242.9%), heart rate (36.2%), respiration rate (53.9%), RPE (81.6%), thermal Sensation (20.8%), weight loss (60.0%), glucose (-4.4%), lactate (41.7%) are statistically significantly higher. As a result, it is considered that repetitive work and workload have a strong effect on the body when wearing firefighting protective clothing in hot conditions.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.81-88
• /
• 2018

Air and ultra lightweight aerogels were used to lighten the weight of the firefighters' protective clothing. In order to lighten the firefighters' protective clothing composed of 3 layers (outer shell, mid-layer, lining), it was most effective to replace the lining which occupied the largest weight in the total weight with the new materials. Thermal protective performance tests were carried out on flame (ASTM D 4108), radiant heat (KS K ISO 6942) and mixing heat (KS K ISO 17492) of flame and radiation. When the lining felt was replaced with an air layer, the air layer must be at least 3 mm to meet the KFI and ISO standards for the thermal protective performance. However, even if the thickness of the air layer increased to 10 mm, the thermal protective performance was lower than that of the existing products. When the felt was replaced with aerogels, the TPP rating (ASTM D 4108) satisfied the KFI standard at the 2 mm thickness of the aerogels. When the thickness of the aerogels was 3 mm, the TPP rating was improved about 140% compared to the existing products. It was confirmed that not only weight reduction but also thermal protective performance was improved by use of aerogels. However, due to the fragile nature of aerogels, a method of fixing them to a constant thickness between layers constituting a firefighters' protective clothing should be considered in the future.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Clothing and Textiles
• /
• v.41 no.5
• /
• pp.950-965
• /
• 2017

This present study proposed a newly developed test method to evaluate the dexterity and mobility of a firefighter's protective gloves. The first step evaluated the mobility and dexterity of the current type of fire protective gloves and three new types of protective gloves using Don-doff test, ASTM dexterity, Minnesota dexterity, Bennett hand tool test, and ASTM torque test. Three firefighters ($47.3{\pm}5.0yr$ in age, $178.6{\pm}2.9cm$ in height) participated in a series of experiments. The second step was to design and suggest an integrated test method based on the results of the first experiment. As a result of the first experiment, we concluded that 1) the mobility and dexterity tests for firefighting gloves should include both wet and dry tests, 2) The three kinds of dexterity tests could be integrated into one test, and 3) The don-doff test and the torque test should be independent from the newly developed integrated test. In summary, we suggested a simplified test method that combined ASTM dexterity, Minnesota dexterity, and Bennett hand tool test. The integrated system can reduce total time spent on dexterity tests and improve the validity of the test in terms of firefighters' manual work.

• Fire Science and Engineering
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.33-39
• /
• 2018

When the fire in the high-rise building was not extinguished in its early stage and propagated over its origin, safe egress becomes one of the most important factor to minimize the casualties. Recently fire protection for high-rise building has been reinforced after experiencing the series of disastrous fires. But, we still find many high-rise buildings do not comply with those reinforcement. And also there is a possibility of failure of reinforced fire protection system. Under these situation safe egress guide would be the final layer of protection. In this study existing egress methods were identified and evaluated. According the result of study, priority in egress should be given to the tenants on the floor of fire origin and floors exposed to the risk of fire. Then, the rest of the tenants can be evacuated simultaneously. Floors exposed in fire risk shall be determined by fire tests and/or fire simulations. But, the result of fire monitoring shall override preliminary estimations. Egress time for each algorithm was estimated by egress simulation and the result was compared. There was a little difference in egress time between total egress and phased egress, and a big difference between using stairs only and using elevators and stairs together. to a constant thickness between layers constituting a firefighter's protective clothing should be considered in the future.