Cooling vests alleviate perceptual heat strain perceived by COVID-19 nurses.

ABSTRACT: Cooling vests alleviate heat strain. We quantified the perceptual and physiological heat strain and assessed the effects of wearing a 21°C phase change material cooling vest on these measures during work shifts of COVID-19 nurses wearing personal protective equipment (PPE). Seventeen nurses were monitored on two working days, consisting of a control (PPE only) and a cooling vest day (PPE + cooling vest). Sub-PPE air temperature, gastrointestinal temperature (T_gi), and heart rate (HR) were measured continuously. Thermal comfort (2 [1-4] versus 1 [1-2], p_condtition < 0.001) and thermal sensation (5 [4-7] versus 4 [2-7], p_condition < 0.001) improved in the cooling vest versus control condition. Only 18% of nurses reported thermal discomfor

SUBMITTER: de Korte JQ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9154750 | biostudies-literature | 2022

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature