and performance and safety training for individuals and small-unit leaders. Te use of RT-PSM to enhance Soldier per- formance and to avoid heat casualties is very different from medical management of casualties after they occur. Medics will bring their own U.S. Food and Drug Administration-certified medical devices to diagnose and treat casualties, upload secure medical data to central reposito- ries and conduct remote telemedicine. In contrast, RT-PSM is not a medical sys- tem providing data for medical decisions, but rather a source of useful safety and performance information.
Te Army National Guard (ARNG), an early adopter of thermal- or work- strain monitoring, is working with the USARIEM and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Lincoln Labora- tory to define requirements and concepts of operation. Te ARNG’s Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CSTs) train and respond to emer- gency events in full chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive protec- tive gear. Chest-mounted physiological sensors provide work- and heat-strain data to downrange team members and to leaders at a command post (See Fig- ure 1.) Other applications include the use of wearable sensors to quantify human thermal or work strain during field evalu- ations of new jungle uniforms performed by the Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad “Gruntworks,” the human systems
techniques and procedures related to the conduct of patrols.
Te current concept is to provide a read-out for the individual Soldier or squad leader that is comparable to a combination of engine temperature and tachometer—i.e., a thermal work-strain index based on heart rate and core tem- perature. According to extensive lab and field research by USARIEM, a high index indicates that someone is working close to his or her upper limit of cardiovascular performance and thermal tolerance and is likely to be stopped by the individual’s own physiological limits. Tis index has also been tested as a simplified, green- yellow-red stoplight risk designation for overall squad and individual squad mem- ber status.
Additional research by USARIEM, conducted in collaboration with the
Gruntworks and with the Australian military’s Defence Science and Technol- ogy Group – Melbourne under a project arrangement, demonstrated that heart rate over time can be used to accurately estimate core body temperature, elimi- nating the need for temperature pills. Tis work has been validated as a pat- ent submission and in peer-reviewed publications.
Most recently, a task force composed of USARIEM, MIT Lincoln Laboratory and the Marine Expeditionary Rifle Squad conducted a first test of thermal work-strain monitoring during Marine Corps training at Camp Geiger, NC, using a chest-mounted RT-PSM system that communicated status information to instructors via an operationally accept- able wireless data link. An important lesson learned: the training cadre, real- izing that the trainees were at relatively
inte-
gration center at the Marine Corps Jungle Warfare Training Center, Camp Gon- salves, Okinawa, Japan.
In another Marine Corps research col- laboration with USARIEM, RT-PSM technologies documented the physi- ological responses of Marines during foot patrols in Iraq and Afghanistan, resulting in knowledge that influenced Marine Corps field doctrine and tactics,
YOU OK IN THERE? Thermal-strain monitoring helps when protective encapsulating equipment makes it hard to see how team members are doing. In studies with National Guard Bureau WMD-CSTs, USARIEM’s William Tharion tested a prominently displayed numeric readout for a thermal work-strain index that can also be transmitted using the team’s communications links. (Photo by Dr. Mark Buller, USARIEM)
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