Clarkson Researchers Seeking Participants for Firefighter Motion Study
Participants sought for research study on understanding firefighter posture during functional task performance
Clarkson University Assistant Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Michael Bazzocchi and his team are seeking participants for a research study on recording and understanding the posture of firefighters while performing functional tasks such as those performed on the fireground. Career and volunteer firefighters in the age range 18 to 99 are all eligible.
The study will enable Bazzocchi and his team to design exoskeleton suits that provide support during task performance on the fireground.
Participants will receive a $50 Amazon gift card upon completion.
The study will take two hours during a single visit. Participants will complete a consent form prior to the experiment. Next, a few anthropometric measurements will be taken. During the experiment, participants will wear an Xsens Awinda motion capture suit that comprises 17 Inertial measurement units (IMUs). Round one of the experiment will start after the system calibration and the recording of five walking gait cycles. Five functional tasks will be recorded in the first round, and each task will be repeated five times. The same process will be followed in the second round while wearing an additional weighted jacket with an equivalent weight to bunker gear.
Those interested in participating can fill out the following brief online form and will be contacted when a study session is being scheduled: https://forms.gle/ssr55fvfQzuR8cbr8
For more information, please contact Dr. Michael Bazzocchi at mbazzocc@clarkson.edu or 315-268-7612.
The Clarkson IRB approval number for this study is 21-63.1 and the contact information for the Clarkson IRB office is irb@clarkson.edu via email, and (315) 268-3764 via phone.
Also, click here if you are interested to find out more about firefighter focus group studies that are taking place virtually.
