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Accuracy of Tympanic Temperature Measurement in Firefighters Completing a Simulated Structural Firefighting Task

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 September 2015

Toby Keene ,
Matt Brearley ,
Beth Bowen  and
Anthony Walker
Toby Keene*
Affiliation:
Australian Capital Territory Ambulance Service, Quality, Safety, and Risk Unit, Canberra, Australia Australian Catholic University, Queensland, Australia
Matt Brearley
Affiliation:
National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, Disaster Medicine Research, Darwin, Australia
Beth Bowen
Affiliation:
Australian Capital Territory Ambulance Service, Quality, Safety, and Risk Unit, Canberra, Australia
Anthony Walker
Affiliation:
Australian Capital Territory Fire and Rescue, Department of Justice and Community Safety, Canberra, Australia UC Research Institute for Sport and Exercise, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
*
Correspondence: Toby Keene, MPH Clinical Quality Assurance Officer ACT Ambulance Service 9 Amberley Avenue Fairbairn, ACT, 2609 GPO Box 158 Canberra City, ACT, 2601 E-mail: toby.keene@act.gov.au
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Abstract

Introduction

In the course of their duties, firefighters risk heat stroke and other medical conditions due to exertion in high-temperature environments. Infrared tympanic temperature measurement (TTym) is often used by Emergency Medical Services (EMS) to assess the core body temperature of firefighters. The accuracy of TTym in this setting has been called into question.

Hypothesis/Problem

This study aimed to examine the accuracy of TTym for core body temperature assessment at emergency firefighting events compared with gastrointestinal temperature measurement (TGI) as measured by ingestible thermometers.

Methods

Forty-five (42 male, three female) professional urban firefighters from an Australian fire service completed two 20-minute work periods in a 100°C (± 5°C) heat chamber while wearing personal protective clothing (PPC) and breathing apparatus (weighing approximately 22 kg). Measurements were taken immediately before entering, and on exiting, the heat chamber. Tympanic temperature was assessed by an infrared tympanic thermometer and TGI was measured by ingestible sensor and radio receiver.

Results

Complete data were available for 37 participants. Participant temperatures were higher on exiting the heat chamber than at baseline (TTym: 35.9°C (SD=0.7) vs 37.5°C (SD=0.8); TGI: 37.2°C (SD=0.4) vs 38.6°C (SD=0.5)). Tympanic temperature underestimated TGI on average by 1.3°C (SD=0.5) before entering the chamber and by 1.0°C (SD=0.8) following the exercise. Using pooled data, the average underestimation was 1.2°C (SD=0.7).

Conclusion

Tympanic thermometers cause an unreliable measure of core body temperature for firefighters engaged in fire suppression activities. Accurate and practical measures of core body temperature are required urgently.

KeeneT , BrearleyM , BowenB , WalkerA . Accuracy of Tympanic Temperature Measurement in Firefighters Completing a Simulated Structural Firefighting Task. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2015;30(5):461–465.

Keywords

body temperatureEmergency Medical Servicesfirefightersthermometers
Type
Original Research
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 30 , Issue 5 , October 2015 , pp. 461 - 465
Copyright
© World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2015 

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