Study of firefighters protective clothing and the factors that affect them

The firefighter faces many dangers and challenges at every moment. He is responsible for putting out fires, and for saving lives and properties, relying on his protective clothing that provides him with necessary protection. But, this type of clothing lacks many studies in Arab world, many international researches are concerned only with the basic components of this type of clothing (materials, layers, accessories, etc), without paying attention to design or ergonomic concepts. Currently study focused on these concepts, and aimed to analyze the vital role of air gabs that occurred by these concepts, and studied its effect on the thermal insulation and protection rate of the firefighter. Experimental part consisted of two basic parts: first is operating a 3D scanning to the mannequin before and after wearing the uniform, second is operating a fire resistance test to the mannequin in case of full wear of uniform. The study proved that air gabs trapped between body and clothing had a great impact on the rates of pain in several body areas during facing fire. Where the areas with thicker air gabs were recorded, the lowest rates of pain were recorded, such as the regions of lower back, front of leg and front of pelvis. While the regions with the thinnest air gabs were recorded, the most rates of pain were recorded such as upper back, upper chest and lower chest. This clearly proves that the air gab has a significant and direct effect on protection rate and functionality of firefighters' clothing.