Research View, Spring 2008

Contents of this issue include: Living Large in Antarctica: Scientists study polar gigantism Andes to Amazon Adventure: UM offers remote South American field course CO2 Sea Change: Researcher studies ocean impacts on global warming Strenuous Science: Growing UM center tests limits of human endurancehttps://scholarworks.umt.edu/researchview/1015/thumbnail.jp

Sensemaking and Resilience for Human Resources in Crises: Lessons From Crisis-Purposed Organizations

Reviewing the best practices in crisis-purposed organizations is useful to help organizations better react to crises. The purpose of this research is to use the COVID-19 pandemic to better understand sensemaking and resilience by carefully studying crisis-purposed organizations for insights. We find that labor market myopia interferes with an organization’s crisis response. An organization may overcome labor market myopia by leveraging HR strategies that emphasize agility and resilience and by adapting to technological changes. We focus on military special operations as the primary example of crisis-purposed organizations, but also refer to wildfire fighters and other emergency responders. These organizations differ in how they recruit and qualify participants, but they all suggest approaches for organizations whose primary focus is something other than crises, but who will face crises in any event

The impact of fire suppression tasks on firefighter hydration: A critical review with consideration of the utility of reported hydration measures

BACKGROUND: Firefighting is a highly stressful occupation with unique physical challenges, apparel and environments that increase the potential for dehydration. Dehydration leaves the firefighter at risk of harm to their health, safety and performance. The purpose of this review was to critically analyse the current literature investigating the impact of fighting ‘live’ fires on firefighter hydration. METHODS: A systematic search was performed of four electronic databases for relevant published studies investigating the impact of live fire suppression on firefighter hydration. Study eligibility was assessed using strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. The included studies were critically appraised using the Downs and Black protocol and graded according to the Kennelly grading system. RESULTS: Ten studies met the eligibility criteria for this review. The average score for methodological quality was 55 %, ranging from 50 % (‘fair’ quality) to 61 % (‘good’ quality) with a ‘substantial agreement’ between raters (k = .772). Wildfire suppression was considered in five studies and structural fire suppression in five studies. Results varied across the studies, reflecting variations in outcome measures, hydration protocols and interventions. Three studies reported significant indicators of dehydration resulting from structural fire suppression, while two studies found mixed results, with some measures indicating dehydration and other measures an unchanged hydration status. Three studies found non-significant changes in hydration resulting from wildfire firefighting and two studies found significant improvements in markers of hydration. Ad libitum fluid intake was a common factor across the studies finding no, or less severe, dehydration. CONCLUSIONS: The evidence confirms that structural and wildfire firefighting can cause dehydration. Ad libitum drinking may be sufficient to maintain hydration in many wildfire environments but possibly not during intense, longer duration, hot structural fire operations. Future high quality research better quantifying the effects of these influences on the degree of dehydration is required to inform policies and procedures that ensure firefighter health and safety

"I always know what's going on." Assessing the Relationship between Perceived and Actual Situation Awareness across Different Scenarios

Effective performance in a situation relies on having a good awareness of that situation or at least, if SA is poor, being aware that this is the case. This study examined the bias (tendency to accept or reject available information) and actual and perceived SA of firefighters across two different situations The data suggested that, although actual SA and bia varied across the situations, perceived SA remained relatively constant. This raises the possibility that individuals may have a ‘resting level’ of perceived SA and that the tasks used in this study were effective in manipulating actual SA while perceived SA remained at the resting level

"I always know what's going on." Assessing the Relationship between Perceived and Actual Situation Awareness across Different Scenarios

Effective performance in a situation relies on having a good awareness of that situation or at least, if SA is poor, being aware that this is the case. This study examined the bias (tendency to accept or reject available information) and actual and perceived SA of firefighters across two different situations The data suggested that, although actual SA and bia varied across the situations, perceived SA remained relatively constant. This raises the possibility that individuals may have a ‘resting level’ of perceived SA and that the tasks used in this study were effective in manipulating actual SA while perceived SA remained at the resting level

Occup Environ Med

P20 GM130418/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United StatesR21 OH011385/OH/NIOSH CDC HHS/United StatesR21OH011385/ACL/ACL HHS/United States2020-11-20T00:00:00Z32295820PMC76790568713vault:3619

Simulated self-paced wildfire suppression work in different thermal conditions

 This thesis provides evidence that wildland firefighters can sustain their work output under hot conditions (33°C), even over multiple days. However, when faced with very hot ambient environments (45°C), work performance suffers and firefighters’ experience a potentially dangerous thermal response

Firefighters\u27 physical activity across multiple shifts of planned burn work

Little is currently known about the physical activity patterns of workers in physically demanding populations. The aims of this study were to (a) quantify firefighters\u27 physical activity and sedentary time within (2-h periods) and across planned burn shifts; and (b) examine whether firefighters\u27 activity levels during one shift or 2-h period was associated with their activity levels in the following shift or 2-h period. Thirty-four salaried firefighters (26 men, 8 women) wore an Actical accelerometer for 28 consecutive days. Time spent sedentary (SED) and in light- (LPA), moderate- (MPA) and vigorous-intensity physical activity (VPA) were derived using validated cut-points. Multilevel analyses (shift, participant) were conducted using generalised linear latent and mixed models. Firefighters spent the majority of a planned burn shift (average length 10.4 h) or 2-h period engaged in LPA (69% and 70%, respectively). No significant associations were observed between SED and physical activity levels between consecutive planned burned shifts or 2-h periods. The physical activity that a firefighter engaged in during one shift (or 2-h period) did not subsequently affect their physical activity levels in the subsequent shift (or 2-h period). Further research is needed to establish how workers in physically demanding populations are able to sustain their activity levels over long periods of time