Blunt trauma

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

(PPE) protects the wearer against injuries caused by blunt impacts. For

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

corrections In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and s ...

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

, and other personnel involved in emergency response operations, the protection against blunt impact threats can be a matter of life or death. To quantify the levels of protection of a Blunt Trauma PPE, users and industry rely on

technical standard A technical standard is an established Social norm, norm or requirement for a repeatable technical task which is applied to a common and repeated use of rules, conditions, guidelines or characteristics for products or related processes and producti ...

s. A balance between protection and functionality allow users to have good flexibility and mobility. Good air ventilation underneath the PPE suit can protect users against heat stroke or

hyperthermia Hyperthermia, also known as overheating, is a condition in which an individual's body temperature is elevated beyond normal due to failed thermoregulation. The person's body produces or absorbs more heat than it dissipates. When extreme te ...

Blunt impact threats

Law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of the government or other social institutions who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by investigating, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms gove ...

and

officers are involved in crowd management, civil disturbances, cell extractions,

riot control Riot control is a form of public order policing used by law enforcement, military, paramilitary or security forces to social control, control, disperse, and arrest people who are involved in a riot, unlawful Demonstration (people), demonstration ...

, violent disturbances, and other emergency response operations. During these highly dynamic situations, blunt impact threats are associated with hand-held objects, thrown objects, improvised weapons, personal assaults, punches, thrusts, kicks or falls. Those threats can result in minor to unsurvivable injuries, which are quantified with an

injury severity score The Injury Severity Score (ISS) is an established medical score to assess trauma severity. It correlates with mortality, morbidity and hospitalization time after trauma. It is used to define the term major trauma. A major trauma (or polytrauma) is ...

on the Abbreviated Injury Scale (AIS).

Impact attenuation standards

To assure their blunt trauma equipment is safe, end-users and industry refer to the impact attenuation criteria as the test methods and criteria set out in the following standards, which apply to personal protective apparel intended to provide protection to the torso, arms and legs, including joints. *

Canadian Standards Association The CSA Group (formerly the Canadian Standards Association; CSA) is a standards organization which develops standards in 57 areas. CSA publishes standards in print and electronic form, and provides training and advisory services. CSA is composed ...

: ''CAN/CSA Z617-06 Personal Protective Equipment for Blunt Trauma''.CAN/CSA Z617-06 Standard
. Canadian Standards Association. *

Home Office Scientific Development Branch The Home Office Scientific Development Branch (HOSDB; formerly the Police Scientific Development Branch) was a branch of the Home Office in the United Kingdom which provided scientific research into new technology that could be used to fight crime ...

: ''HOSDB Blunt Trauma Protector Standard for UK Police (2007) - Limb and Torso Protectors 20-07''.HOSDB Blunt Trauma Protector Standard
Home Office Scientific Development Branch. A blunt impact PPE meeting the impact attenuation criteria set out in the standards is qualified via test methods and criteria that have been established by a professional, and recognized technical committee consisting of corrections officers, law enforcement officers, industry participants, laboratory specialists, technical experts, and related individuals and organizations involved with blunt impact PPE, who are experts and specialists in this field. The technical committee undertakes a formal process to investigate, evaluate and quantify blunt impact threats, and then research and develop test methods and criteria to determine compliance of given systems with respect to the essential impact protection for users.

Flexibility and mobility

Blunt trauma PPE generally involves a balance between protection and function; some compromises can be made in the protection in order to permit sufficient function for the wearer. The equipment offer users a

range of motion Range of motion (or ROM) is the linear or angular distance that a moving object may normally travel while properly attached to another. In biomechanics and strength training, ROM refers to the angular distance and direction a joint can move be ...

(flexibility), and ease-of-motion (mobility), while maintaining the necessary impact protection and coverage areas. Experts in

human factors Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of psychological and physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goals of human factors eng ...

and

ergonomics Ergonomics, also known as human factors or human factors engineering (HFE), is the application of Psychology, psychological and Physiology, physiological principles to the engineering and design of products, processes, and systems. Primary goa ...

Ergonomic Redesign of PPE
IOS Press. help deliver systems that do not impede or fatigue users while they are wearing PPE equipment, resulting in a comfortable and functional suit. Users will have much greater comfort (and thus less distraction and irritation) and their functionality and ability to perform necessary roles, tasks and actions, will not be impeded.

Cooling and heat stress reduction

During emergency response operations, law enforcement and corrections officers are vulnerable to heat strokes or

. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration in the United States publishes a heat stress "Quick Card", that contains a checklist designed to help prevent heat stress.Osha QuickCard
. Occupational Safety and Health Administration. To protect users from heat stress, blunt trauma PPE can allow air flows underneath the suit to maximize the body's natural cooling process of

perspiration Perspiration, also known as sweat, is the fluid secreted by sweat glands in the skin of mammals. Two types of sweat glands can be found in humans: eccrine glands and Apocrine sweat gland, apocrine glands. The eccrine sweat glands are distribu ...

. With good air ventilation, the suit will help cool the user and reduce excess body heat which can contribute to heat stress.

References

{{reflist

External links

Physiological Responses to Exercise in the Heat
��Chapter 3 of ''Nutritional Needs in Hot Environments'' Protective gear Safety clothing Riot control