Lessons Learned While Designing A Next-Generation Firefighting Hel- met: Preliminary Data

Abstract

In this study, we evaluated the effects of weight and profile (center of gravity location) of three different most widely used firefighting helmets on the head-neck kinematics, positional instability, visual range,and comfort. we compared three different firefighter helmets: a traditional-look (with-brim) helmet (58 oz),a jet-style helmet (62.25 oz), and the jet-style helmet with lighting and communication systems (70.85 oz); all are large.. Since our preliminary investigation showed promising results for the jet-style helmet type, a thorough systematic analysis on a large sample is warranted. Some legitimate concerns that we observed in the preliminary study include: 1) excessive helmet weight caused neck hyper-flexion and imbalanced lateral bending, 2) the CoG of the helmet system lies away from the mid-sagittal plane, and 3) the weight and the displaced CoG poses the threat of an increased risk of cervical spinal disc loading, which can result in disc herniation and degenerated disc.