Biomechanical Evaluation of Three Different Police Load Carriers for Officer Duty Equipment
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| Publicado en: | ProQuest Dissertations and Theses (2025) |
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| Acceso en línea: | Citation/Abstract Full Text - PDF |
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| Resumen: | his study evaluated how the placement and mass distribution of Police Duty Equipment configuration impact police officers’ physical performance as measured by related muscles’ activity, related joints’ posture, heart rate and elapsed time to complete the task. Three different commonly utilized duty carrier configurations were evaluated by comparing them to the control using 13 male participants from the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) Criminal Justice Training Center (CJTC). The control is a representation of the standard configuration clothing used in the field (CJTC standard issue cadet uniform) including shirt, undershirt, belt, trousers, socks, and shoes. Treatment 1: Control configuration plus Duty Carrier Belt and Duty Gear. Treatment 2: Treatment 1 plus an undershirt suspender system. Treatment 3: Control configuration plus Carrier Vest and Duty Belt. Muscle activity of the Erector Spinae Longissimus, Iliocostalis, Multifidus, and Trapezius were collected using Delsys electromyography (EMG). Additionally, Upper Body joints’ posture was analyzed using the Xsens 3D-motion tracking. The participants completed the Shorter Illinois Agility Test which is a modified test that is used by numerous police departments to evaluate candidates’ physical condition. To do so, participants jogged around the course while being evaluated (approximate distance of 49 meters). Heart rate and time as a fatigue indicator were also recorded. Participants completed the Control trial and then the three treatments in a random order. They were given at least 15 minutes of rest between trials. At the end of the trials, each participant was asked about their most preferred treatment and to provide any related feedback. A Friedman statistical test was conducted to determine if there were differences between the four groups. If the Friedman test was significant, then Wilcoxon Signed-Rank Test was run to determine specific significance.No significant differences in heart rate were observed between groups; however for Treatments 3 group, a significantly increased time during the tests was observed compared to the Control group (20.39 ± 3.79 seconds) with 21.25 ± 2.96 seconds. Protective duty equipment configurations also altered studied joints’ posture. The flexion-extension angles for L4-L3 and T9-T8 joints significantly increased for Treatment 1 from Control and for L4-L3 joint for Treatment 3 from Control. Additionally, the right T4-Shoulder flexion-extension was significantly increased for Treatments 2 from Control. Muscle induced fatigue as measured by the Medium Frequency of the left and right trapezius descendens considerably increased for Treatments 2 & 3 when compared to Treatment 1 and Control. Amplitude analysis measured as MVC% of the right erector spinae longissimus showed a significant decrease in muscle activity for Treatment 1 to Control. Amplitude analysis of the right trapezius descendens significantly increased for Treatments 2 & 3 to Control. Overall, most participants preferred Treatment 3 (53%) and Treatment 2 (40%). Of the participants that chose Treatment 2, 50% liked both Treatment 2 and Treatment 3, but having to choose, they ultimately picked Treatment 2.The results of this study indicate that while Treatments 2 and 3 showed signs of increased upper body muscle fatigue from distributing some of the duty belt weight on the shoulders, they reduced the lower body muscles activity. Treatment 1 affected the overall agility of the subjects by increasing the heart rate and increasing the axial rotation angle and the flexion angle from control. Treatments 2 and 3 were perceived by participants to be the most comfortable to their hips, legs and back and their preferred choice while Treatment 1 was selected as the least preferred method to duty carrier gear. These findings could be used by police departments to change related policy to allow officers the choice of duty gear carrier configurations rather than limiting them to only one. |
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| ISBN: | 9798290952116 |
| Fuente: | ProQuest Dissertations & Theses Global |