The Impact of Police Duty Ensemble on the Cardiopulmonary Response to Exercise and Simulated Work Performance

• Author / Creator

  Ehnes, Cameron Michael

• This study, conducted in two-parts, examined the impact of general duty police ensemble on the cardiopulmonary response to graded exercise and on simulated work performance in 25 healthy male and female subjects. Part I consisted of randomly ordered treadmill tests in two experimental conditions: physical training (PT, undergarments, shorts, t-shirt, and running shoes) and police duty ensemble (PDE, undergarments, body armour, patrol uniform, boots, duty belt with required small equipment, radio and weapons). The PDE added 10.3 ± 0.4 kg, or 14 ± 2% body mass. Subjects walked at 93.9 m.min-1, starting at 0% grade with 2% increases in grade every two minutes. The stage at 4% grade was extended to six minutes to allow measurement of steady-state responses. Part II evaluated performance time on a job-related, pursuit-restraint simulation circuit used to test physical aptitude in police applicants, in three experimental conditions; PT (as above), weighted belt (WB, PT plus a 7.5 kg weighted belt), and PDE (as above). In Part I, physiological responses such as V̇O2, V̇E, and heart rate, were elevated (p<0.05) with PDE during submaximal exercise but peak values were unchanged. Test duration and peak power output were significantly reduced with PDE. In Part II, circuit completion time was increased in PDE compared to PT and WB (p<0.05). Heart rate and perceived exertion were similar in all conditions; however, perceived dyspnea was higher in PDE. Results show that general duty police ensemble increased physiological strain, resulting in reduced peak exercise performance as well as reduced performance during simulated police work.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Performance
  • Protective clothing
  • Oxygen demand
  • Load carriage
  • Police
  • Body armour

• Graduation date

  Spring 2019

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Master of Science

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/r3-z1ny-5s59

• License

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