Wireless sensor monitors health of 'smoke divers'

Dubbed ‘smoke divers’, these firefighters are exposed to high temperatures, physical exhaustion and stress and the wireless sensor lets them know when their bodies are in danger.

According to a statement, the warning system depends on measurements from sensors that monitor an individual’s level of activity and whether he or she is sitting, at rest or lying prone.

It does this by combining data from accelerometers and gyroscopes with heart-rate and skin-temperature measurements. In conjunction, they measure a smoke diver’s level of heat stress.

The system has recently been tested by a group of firefighters on a training field for smoke divers at Rygge Airport in Norway. The aim was to find out how well the warning system, which obtains its data from a sensor system (ESUMS) in the form of a belt fastened closely round the chest, functions in real-life situations.

‘The sensor system was originally financed by US funding for use in medical rehabilitation, but it can also be used in other applications. So far, the results have been very encouraging,’ said project manager Trine Seeberg, a senior scientist at SINTEF, Scandinavia’s largest independent research organisation.