Body cooling with ice for warm-water diving operations.

Area of Science:

• Occupational physiology
• Environmental physiology
• Diving medicine

Background:

• Diving operations in warm water pose significant heat stress risks to professional divers.
• Maintaining thermal balance is crucial for diver safety and performance during extended submersion.
• Existing diving suits may not adequately mitigate heat stress in elevated water temperatures.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness of an ice-cooled vest (ICEDS) in mitigating physiological strain during simulated diving work in warm water.
• To compare heat balance and tolerance times between a normal dry suit (NDS) and ICEDS at various water temperatures.
• To assess the impact of ICEDS on diver performance and safety criteria in simulated repair tasks.

Main Methods:

• Two professional divers underwent simulated 60-minute repair work exposures in water at 34°C, 38°C, and 42°C.
• Physiological responses were measured using two suit configurations: a normal dry suit (NDS) and an NDS with an integrated ice-cooled vest (ICEDS).
• Heat balance, physiological strain, and tolerance times were recorded and analyzed for each condition.

Main Results:

• The ICEDS significantly improved heat balance across all tested temperatures (34°C, 38°C, 42°C) compared to the NDS.
• Physiological strain was notably high with the NDS at 38°C, and extremely high for both suit types at 42°C.
• The ICEDS allowed one diver to complete a 60-minute exposure at 42°C, and generally extended tolerance times by 15-30 minutes in the studied temperature range.

Conclusions:

• The ice-cooled vest (ICEDS) is effective in enhancing thermal regulation for divers in warm water environments.
• ICEDS technology demonstrates potential for improving diver safety and extending operational durations in challenging thermal conditions.
• Further improvements to the ICEDS design could further optimize heat management and diver tolerance.