User Guide for the Mission Degradation of Respiratory Protection Database (MDRPDB)

A significant portion of the performance degradation associated with wearing the Chemical Defense Ensemble CDE is due to the burdens placed on the wearer by the mask and hood combination. The degradation which occurs when a maskhood is worn is a function of a combination of factors. Several physical problems such as respiratory difficulty and thermal stress are associated with mask usage. Wearing protective masks can also create adverse psychological effects. Lastly, perceptual abilities such as vision, communications, and fine motor dexterity can be severely hampered. The goal of mask designers is to reduce the impact of these factors on task performance through improved mask designs. In order to predict and evaluate the extent to which performance burdens induced by the maskhood can be relieved with a new maskhood design, an automated system which quantitatively depicts the interrelationships between the various factors associated with wearing the protective maskhood has been developed. Previous predictive models have dealt with physiological and performance issues, but most of these models and databases were developed using the Chemical Defense Ensemble CDE as a total system. This project is the first database and basic model which combines task performance, human abilities and mask design parameters to provide a predictor for new mask designs.