One of the most critical domains sailors must learn is shipboard firefighting. Firefighting exposes individuals to heat stress and fluid loss, which may be capable of causing sudden cardiac events (Holsworth, 2013) and to physical danger, physical overexertion, and mental stress, which can reduce performance (Gomes, 2013). It is critical to ensure sailors are trained to fight fires under realistic, stressful conditions to prepare them for shipboard firefighting. At the Surface Warfare Officer School (SWOS) Learning Site Firefighting School at Naval Station Mayport, the goal is to develop Warfighter readiness and effectiveness in firefighting onboard ship within a controlled, realistic environment. This includes incorporating physical and psychological stressors (e.g., physical ship layout challenges; multiple, active fires to control) into training. Quantifying the occurrence of stress experienced by trainees for this facility, and the majority of live training exercises is currently limited to subjective accounts during hotwashes. The integration of physiological stress levels tied directly to scenario events can potentially allow instructors to enrich the training through adaptation of physiological stressors to individual trainee response and performance. This paper will demonstrate an innovative approach to objectively evaluating stress within the SWOS Mayport Firefighting school training scenarios using wearable technology which monitors physiological and physical state of trainees. trainee stress state within scenario context can be monitored throughout a scenario in real-time via an instructor-based interface to alert instructors of potential stress issues before they become emergencies. The paper will discuss end user feedback based on the stress monitoring closed loop system and outline strengths and opportunities for improvement in enhancing awareness of scenario stress and training effectiveness. One of the most critical domains sailors must learn is shipboard firefighting. Firefighting exposes individuals to heat stress and fluid loss, which may be capable of causing sudden cardiac events (Holsworth, 2013) and to
Human Performance Analysis and Engineering
Wearable Stress Monitoring During Live Training
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