Protects emergency services

Intelligent firefighter jacket can detect heat

Salzburg Research researcher Severin Bernhart and Texport Managing Director Otmar Schneider with a prototype of an intelligent firefighter jacket in front of the fire simulation facility(Bild: wildbild)

Salzburg Research and the University of Salzburg have developed an intelligent firefighter jacket. Sensors built into the jacket report when a person is in danger of overheating and initiate countermeasures.

Firefighting operations are demanding for the emergency services. Not only mentally, but also physically, these types of operations demand a great deal of strength from the helpers. 

In the USA alone, up to 40-50 firefighters die every year as a result of overwork during and after an operation. Rising temperatures in the firefighter suit lead to a "tipping point" at which firefighters can collapse.

Firefighting equipment supplier Texport GmbH therefore joined forces with Salzburg Research and the University of Salzburg to find a solution to this problem.

The result is an automatically cooling firefighter jacket. During development, it was repeatedly tested under real conditions in the fire simulation facility. Sensor data and feedback from the test subjects showed the effectiveness of the innovative system.