Determinants of stair climbing speeds in volunteer firefighters

Abstract

Stair climb is a physically demanding task for firefighters and plays an important role in firefighting. Yet little is known about factors affecting the speed of firefighters on stairs. The aims of this study were to quantify stair climbing speeds in firefighting and to establish the relationship between multiple factors and stair performance of firefighters. A convenience sample of sixty-three volunteer firefighters (30.4 ± 8.2 years; BMI 26.2 ± 4.2 Kg/m2) performed stair climb exercises under different conditions: without additional equipment, with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), with PPE and Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA), and with PPE and SCBA while carrying a tool (e.g., axe, hose, Halligan, etc.). The observed climbing rates of the SCBA and Tool conditions align with earlier studies. Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) analysis revealed that the combination of extrinsic factors (covered distance and equipment weight) along with intrinsic factors (gender, age, Body Mass Index and handrail use) significantly explained 37 % of the variance in ascent speed and 23 % of the variance in descent speed of firefighters. Overall males exhibited faster speeds and older age, higher BMI, and longer distances lead to slower speeds. Equipment weight was found to be the most substantial individual predictor on stair performance in firefighters. For example, carrying an extra load equivalent to 30 % of body mass resulted in a decrease of 24.8 % and 17.6 % in ascent and descent speed respectively. These findings may contribute to improve fire safety engineering analysis and firefighting operations.