The Effect of Wearing a Cooling Vest to Alleviate Thermal Strain during Moderate Intensity Work

In the heat, a positive body heat storage and the associated increase in core body temperature elicit the reflex physiological thermoregulatory mechanisms of sweating and cutaneous vasodilation in order to enhance heat dissipation. However under circumstances where these mechanisms cannot facilitate a sufficiently high rate of heat loss, core body temperature continually rises, and if left unchecked may lead to heat illness and eventually death. The conditions under which a catastrophic increase in core body temperature may occur are determined by a complex interaction between ambient environmental conditions (i.e. air temperature, radiant temperature, relative humidity and air velocity) and personal parameters (i.e. metabolic activity and clothing).