Ice vests get a warm reception

Corporal Phillip Slattery wears a body-cooling vest as he carries out maintenance on an Orion in the MEAO.

ORION aircrew and maintenance personnel deployed in the Middle East are receiving some cool comfort with the trialling of body-cooling vests.

With the conditions in the MEAO described as that of a fan-forced oven, the heat body cooling vest was introduced as a countermeasure against the threat of heat stress and other heat-related illnesses.

Before the recent Orion deployment to the Middle East, No. 11 Squadron Senior Engineering Officer Squadron Leader Lionel Bentley identified the potential for thermal strain on aircrew while they performed pre-flight inspections on the tarmac. SQNLDR Bentley requested the assistance of the Institution of Aviation Medicine (AVMED) to find a quick, suitable solution to the anticipated problem.

In an AVMED report, Aviation Medicine Officer Captain Adrian Smith identified the cooling vest as a readily available, cost-effective means of managing thermal strain. “AVMED has not formally evaluated the body-cooling vest, but believes it offers a promising approach to the operational concerns expressed, and supports its trial introduction to P-3 aircrew operating in the MEAO,” he said.

The light fibre garments have strips of gel across the front and back which, when frozen, absorb body heat as they change from a solid to a gel state.

The vests can lower the skin temperature by up to 17 degrees, lasting around 45 minutes. Commonly used by sporting groups to cool down players during training and competition, cooling vests have also been adopted by US coalition forces operating in the MEAO.

Apart from aircrew, maintenance personnel in the MEAO also wear the vests as a method of keeping cool while working on the hot tarmac. Results from the informal trial might lead to a more comprehensive scientific evaluation of the body-cooling vests.

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