Integrating a Wireless Sensor Network into Firefighter Protective Clothing

PI: Dr. Huantian Cao, Design, Housing and Merchandising

Collaborators: Dr. Donna Branson, Design, Housing and Merchandising
Dr. Xiaolin Li, Computer Science
Currently there are approximately 1.2 million firefighters in the United States. Of these
firefighters, approximately 210,000 are career/paid and approximately 1 million are volunteers.
According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) statistics, a total of 87 on-duty
firefighter deaths occurred in the United States in 2005. The 87 on-duty deaths represent the
lowest total since 1993. The distribution of deaths caused by fatal injury or illness in 2005
indicates that the largest portion of deaths (46%) fell into the category of sudden cardiac deaths.
All of these sudden cardiac deaths were attributed to stress or overexertion. From 1995 through
2004, 449 firefighters, or almost half of the total number of fire fighters who died while on duty,
fell victim to sudden cardiac deaths.
Firefighters require the best personal protective equipment available because of the nature of
their jobs and the environment in which they perform their duties. A firefighters full protective
equipment for structural firefighting consists of personal protective clothing (helmet, protective
hood, protective turnout coat and trousers, gloves, safety shoes or boots, eye protection goggles
or faceshields, hearing protection), personal breathing apparatus (self-contained breathing
apparatus, SCBA), and personal alert safety system (PASS). Good protective clothing and
breathing apparatus can reduce and prevent injuries from fire, heat, smoke, oxygen deficiency
and toxic atmospheres. The PASS device, about the size of a portable transistor radio worn on
the firefighters SCBA or coat and mandatory for all firefighters under NFPA 1500, will emit a
loud, pulsating shriek if a firefighter collapses or remains motionless for approximately 30
seconds. However, tests performed by the Mesa (Arizona) Fire Department showed that locating
even the loud shriek of a PASS device in poor visibility conditions can be more difficult than
expected. Firefighters protective clothing effectively insulates them from the thermal
environment around them. Due to the thermal insulation, sometimes it is difficult for the
firefighters to appreciate how much heat flux they have been exposed to during fire fighting
operations. Many PASS devices are equipped with thermal sensors to monitor the thermal
environment and warn firefighters if thermal exposure exceeds the pre-set safe level.
The main goal of this project is to explore the design and development of smart clothing that
incorporates a wireless sensor network in firefighters protective clothing. The smart clothing
will send an alert message to the firefighter who wears it if hazardous abnormal physiological
data are measured. The specific objectives are:
1. Design, evaluate and optimize a wireless sensor network that monitors firefighters
physiological parameters and thermal environment.
2. Determine the optimal locations for wireless sensor components in firefighter
protective clothing and investigate methods to integrate sensor components into
firefighter protective clothing.
3. Develop mathematical models to estimate firefighters body temperature and
perspiration rate from microclimate temperature and humidity and thermal
environment measured by the sensor network.