Novel Method of Estimating Metabolic Rates of Soldiers Engaged in Chemical Biological Defense Training
Abstract Estimates of metabolic rate for typical training exercises during which, chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and/or explosive personal protective ensembles are worn are currently unknown. Scientists, materiel developers, and warfighters require these metabolic rates to make informed decisions about the metabolic and thermal effects of working while wearing encapsulating personal protective equipment. Physiological data were collected from volunteers during Chemical Response Team (CRT) and Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team (WMD CST) training exercises at three different locations. These data included core temperature (TC) values which were used with contextual environmental and ensemble characteristic data to estimate metabolic rate using the USARIEM developed physics and physiology based thermoregulatory model SCENARIO. Mean metabolic rate values ranged between 184 66 W and 542 142 W and total energy expenditure (EEtot) for each exercise period ranged from 1.2 0.2 MJ to 2.6 0.4 MJ