The US Department of Commerce in
collaboration with the Industrial Fabrics Association International has invited
the well-known Globe Manufacturing Company to share their thoughts at what can
be called as the first of its kind, Smart Fabrics Summit planned to be
conducted in Washington DC. It is known that Penny Pritzker, the US Secretary
of Commerce will take the onus of moderating the selected panel of business
leaders.
The summit is being conducted as
a way to foster the relations between the US Apparels and this new found
technology to give to the identification of public policies, which can push the
idea of designing and manufacturing of smart fabrics.
Globe, along with Propel, its
team project partner is slated to present the system devised for fire-fighters
as well as other first responders, to monitor real-time physiology as well as
location known as the Wearable Advanced Sensor Platform or WASP.
Expressing her consent on the
same, Ms.Pritzker agreed that the rapid advancement in technology is doing a
great job in fostering some much desired changes in textile sector by aiding
the development of new capabilities. This, is fact, has brought about a
revolution in the way everyday consumers, first responders, athletes and even
patients interact with their apparels.
WASP is one such step towards
changing the way people, especially first responders see their clothes as.
These smart-fabrics will not only interact with the environment of the wearer
but will also communicate the details of the same to the relevant devices with
the help of conductive yarns and embedded sensors.
More often
than not fire-fighters undergo extremely stressful circumstances during the
performance of their duties, and it is this stress that account for as much as
50% of the line of duty deaths in the United States Fire Administration. This
stress and exertion is often a result of the escalated thermal environment, the
heavily insulated and rather uncomfortable protective clothing, handling of
heavy equipment accompanied by the individual status of health of each
fire-fighter. Even during the course of carrying out an emergency operation,
these fighters are put under a lot of stress owing to the extreme hazards that
they’re exposed to.
The Wearable
Advanced Sensor Platform not only tracks vitals of the body such as heart rate
variability and core body temperature, but also keeps a record of the level of
activity, the rate of respiration and numerous physiological aspects along with
generating the 3D location of the fighter in the given building.
It is for this reason, that WASP offers helps through instructors at
various academies to
simulate the physiological state as well as track the personnel, thus
propelling due decision making capabilities. According to the Globe
Manufacturing Company, this will go a long way in improving on safety measures
as well as getting more efficient outcomes during the training sessions.
WASP is also
working towards offering a similar tool to track the physiological status as
well as the location of incident commanders, thus shortening the time required
for rescuing a downed personnel on duty!
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