Driver Cooling Strategies to Mitigate Heat Illness in Motorsports: Physiological Impacts and Recommendations.

Abstract

Each year, over 1 million individuals participate in automobile racing and are at an increased risk of heat illness due to the physical effort to pilot the vehicle while wearing a fire protective suit in a hot cockpit. To date, there has been no investigation into the various methods advertised to mitigate heat stress in drivers. This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of three driver cooling strategies-cool shirt, helmet blower, and suit blower-during heat exposure, and to determine their impact on thermal stress in a laboratory setting. Physically fit participants completed six 60-min cycling trials in a heat chamber (32°C, 80% relative humidity) while wearing full fire-protective racing gear. Trials included five cooling strategies (cool shirt, helmet blower with ambient or cold air, suit blower with ambient or cold air) and a control (no cooling) condition. Core temperature, skin temperature, heart rate, and Physiological Strain Index were recorded. Ambient air trials were discontinued after three participants due to safety concerns. After 60 min of exercise, the suit blower with cold air (34.85 ± 0.11°C) had the lowest ( P < 0.001) skin temperature, followed by the cool shirt (37.99 ± 0.11°C), then the helmet blower with cold air (38.71 ± 0.04°C) and finally the control condition (39.74 ± 0.04°C). Core temperature was the lowest ( P < 0.001) in the suit blower (cold air) condition (37.51 ± 0.04°C), followed by the helmet blower (cold air) condition (38.05 ± 0.04°C), then the control condition (38.32 ± 0.04°C), and finally, the cool shirt condition (38.58 ± 0.04°C). The suit blower with cold air is the most effective strategy for mitigating thermal strain. helmet blowers also offer substantial benefits, while cool shirts provide limited cooling.