Man Living in the Arctic; Proceedings of a Conference, Quartermaster Research and Engineering Center, Natick, Massachusetts, 1, 2 December 1960 (1961) / Chapter Skim
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SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF MAN LIVING IN THE ARCTIC
SCIENTIFIC APPROACHES TO SOLVING THE PROBLEMS OF MAN LIVING IN THE ARCTIC
Pages 79-118
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From page 79... ...
At one time he was Director of the Army Medical Research Laboratory at Fort Knox and is now the Medical Corps representative to the Tripartite Group in Canada. The Army has been fortunate to have a man with Colonel Blair's interest in and knowledge of the problems of the individual living in the Arctic, and it is our pleasure to have him here today to discuss "Health Maintenance".
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From page 80... ...
Winter in Arctic areas, though eliminating biting insects, creates even more difficult health problems largely associated with the snow and extreme cold. Research programs directed toward maintenance of health and efficiency of personnel in the Arctic must be planned to meet widely varying climatic conditions, as shown in Fig.
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From page 81... ...
2. Persons with history of previous severe cold injury; they are twice as susceptible to cold injury as other individuals.
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From page 82... ...
S Army Medical Research Laboratory have shown that such a program of acclimatization to cold will increase a man's efficiency, endurance, and probably his resistance to the harmful effects of cold.
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From page 83... ...
and are associated with a definite increase in resistance to the harmful effects of cold exposure (3)
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From page 85... ...
of severe cold exposure. Of course, the important question is: How far do these animal studies apply to man in increasing his resistance to cold?
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From page 86... ...
TRAINING CAMPS 65 3,900 3,790 I4% I3% 42% 44% 44% 43% TROPICS: PACIFIC ISLANDS 38 TH DIV., LUZON 79 83 3,400 3,200 I3% I3% 54% 54% 33% 33% FIGURE 9. Environment and food intake in man.
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From page 87... ...
have given us much information on the effect of climate and temperature on the food and water requirement in man. But further information on work load and energy expenditures for various Arctic tasks must be obtained before the optimum nutritional requirements for various types of Arctic duty can be established.
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From page 88... ...
Proper use of cold weather equipment; 2) Drying of clothing and replacing wet socks; 3)
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From page 89... ...
FIGURE 11. Cold exposure graph for prevention of cold injuries.
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From page 90... ...
This has been done by Eskimos for many years and will give adequate protection against snowblindness.
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From page 91... ...
Otto Edholm is well known to any of you who have been concerned with human physiology in cold environments. He has been a leader in the United Kingdom in civilian and military research in cold adaptation.
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From page 92... ...
Experience in the problems of Polar physiology was gained by Lewis and Masterton, who formed a joint Physiological Medical Team with the British North Greenland Expedition of 1952-54. A number of different factors were studied and included Basal Metabolic Rate; haemoglobin, cell counts, cell fragility; physical fitness assessment, energy expenditure and food intake, body weight and skinfold thickness, and sleep rhythms.
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From page 93... ...
No long sledging journeys were made -- at Halley Bay a few trips were made with manhauling sledges as there were no dogs; in the Argentine Islands outdoor activities were largely 93
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From page 94... ...
The computed energy expenditure is higher for the Argentine Islands than for Halley Bay, the annual average being 3,500 kcal and 3,300 kcal, respectively. It was possible to be out of doors skiing and climbing for rather longer periods in the Argentine Islands than in Halley Bay, and this accounts for the higher energy expenditure.
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From page 95... ...
However, it can be provisionally concluded that the relatively high energy expenditure, and hence high food intake, is due to the demands made by the environment and the work required to meet these demands, rather than a direct effect of cold stimulating metabolism. The problems of physical work in Polar regions have only been studied indirectly.
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From page 96... ...
It is undoubtedly important to get such information if only to resolve the present controversy on the importance of cold on food intake. The figures available from studies at Polar bases indicate that energy expenditure and food intake are moderately high.
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From page 97... ...
Similar findings have been reported from other Polar bases, however, the degree of disruption has usually been less marked. All the results agree that there is little, if any, seasonal change in sleep duration.
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From page 98... ...
The story of Polar explorers being completely free from upper respiratory tract infection until they come into contact with the outside world again, and then all get severe colds immediately, has sufficient basis to warrant investigation. It is clear, however, that there are many departures from the conventional account, such as the failure to develop a cold at the end of the period of isolation and the development of various infections during the period of isolation.
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From page 99... ...
Another way to ask a similar question is: "What effect does physical fitness have on the ability to adapt to low temperatures? " In field experiments on cold adaptation, Carlson (15)
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From page 100... ...
This clothing must not only provide the physiologically acceptable personal environment for the man, but must also permit him to perform efficiently all of the many tasks required of him. Providing adequate cold weather protection for the hand and at the same time maintaining useful and desirable dexterity presents a particularly difficult problem.
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From page 101... ...
The many physiological and psychological problems associated with hand function and protection were all thoroughly discussed at a conference on the "Protection and Functioning of the Hands in Cold Climates" sponsored by the Advisory Board on Quartermaster Research and Development, Committee on Environmental Protection, held in Natick, Massachusetts, in April of 1956. Since the meeting, the Committee on Hand Functioning and Handwear has been actively interested in seeking workable solutions to the problem of hand protection.
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From page 102... ...
Meehan, J P., General Body Cooling and Hand Cooling, Protection and Functioning of the Hands in Cold Climates, 45-62, National Academy of SciencesNational Research Council, Washington (1957)
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From page 103... ...
RIOCH Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Washington, D
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From page 104... ...
Another psychiatric problem which is peculiar to the transition period of Arctic travel and mobility is often labelled "carelessness". It consists of pilots and drivers of vehicles with heated cabs starting on a mission or trip without their cold weather equipment.
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From page 105... ...
S Marine Corps, at the Symposium on Stress held at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 1953 (3)
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From page 106... ...
by the Mental Hygiene Consultation Service, and also to the problems of more efficient handling of military offenders (1, 6)
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From page 107... ...
A study was conducted at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research under the direction of Colonel Glass on the military performance of 505 men randomly selected on whom detailed psychiatric data were obtained by the Office of the Surgeon General during the first three weeks they were in basic training (2)
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From page 108... ...
In experimental studies on monkeys at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research a considerable number of animals in conditioned reflex experiments -- in which the animal was under psychological, but not under physical stress -- developed peptic ulcers or other disturbances of the digestive system (14)
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From page 109... ...
No measurements of vital functions -- such as blood pressure, blood sugar, and so forth -- were made at Omaha Beach so that the physiological state of the men is not known. All one can say is that under the circumstances the body failed to support the brain.
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From page 110... ...
This is in sharp contrast with the "images" of winter developed by children raised in northern, rural communities where respect for the cold and utilization of the snow and ice for travel in hunting or trapping are part of everyday living and on which social status as an adequate person depends. In southern climates a boy gets concurrence from his peers in his unrealistic attitudes toward cold, but not in unrealistic attitudes towards swimming, care of horses, checking water supplies, and so forth.
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From page 111... ...
The structure of a group as measured by its performance is determined largely by the mission or objectives of its members, separately and collectively. In small groups in isolated stations, survival to return "home" becomes dominant and produces a remarkable degree of control of interpersonal relations.
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From page 112... ...
The facts that the margin of safety is much narrower in the Arctic and that Arctic operations require more specialized equipment and therefore more diversity of technical training make the problems of group organization more acute than they are in temperate zones. Although current academic studies of human information processing and communication can provide certain guide-lines for investigating these problems, operational investigations with careful reporting will be of greater significance in arriving at workable solutions.
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From page 113... ...
261-267, Army Med. Service Graduate School, Walter Reed Army Medical Center, U
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S Army's Mental Hygiene Consultation Service, Symposium on Preventive and Social Psychiatry, Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D
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From page 115... ...
He may be at the mercy of high winds, low temperatures, and much more continuous exposure to the low environmental temperatures than he is today. There are two points about the Polar regions which must be remembered.
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From page 116... ...
Is it better for him to work at levels at which he will have energy expenditures of eight or nine times his basal metabolic rate for a period of 5 seconds, 10 minutes, 25 minutes, an hour? Or, is it better for him to be working at these metabolic rates or even higher with rest periods of 5 minutes, 116
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From page 117... ...
We actually don't know how man will perform in cold environments because we spend too much of our time in setting up a series of problems and never providing the opportunity to get an answer. We actually do not take the information that we have and translate it into the kind of information which we need to solve this basic problem.
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From page 118... ...
I think it is time we grow up. It is time to start thinking about cold environments, not from the standpoint of whether a man is acclimated to the cold or not acclimated; nor whether he has adequate or new types of garments or new types of insulated boots.
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