Physiology in practice: Utilising physiological markers to risk-manage work in the heat

Abstract

Preventing heat-related illnesses during military training and deployments is not only crucial to the health of the individual but also in maintaining the operational capability of the defence forces. Practical efforts to identify and control the incidence of heat illness or injury have historically been focused on identifying high-risk environments and providing guidance for acceptable work/rest schedules. However, assessing risk of heat stress from environmental conditions alone fails to account for individual differences, such as acclimatisation status, aerobic fitness, body composition and morphology, prior heat injury, and personal motivation, which play an important role in an individual's response to working in hot environments. Consequently, individual soldiers can and do succumb to heat-related illness within an environment based risk-management framework. But also, policies that aim to protect the most susceptible personnel from injury may concomitantly restrain the majority from completing realistic military training even if it is within their individual capability. This session will outline the strengths and weakness of the traditional population based guidance framework for military activities in hot environments and examine how recent applied projects are advancing military capability to both minimize risk of heat-related illnesses and optimise soldiers’ physical performance.