STRESS AND COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE OF FIRE FIGHTERS DURING SMOKE-DIVING

Appropriate performance under conditions of severe short-term stress i s a matter of considerable importance in fire fighting. This study exa mined the effects of stress reactions on cognitive functioning during stressful solitary smoke-diving in a dark labyrinthine simulation trac k. To determine the stress reactions of male fire fighters, the change s in their heart rate (HR), compared to the individual resting and max imal HR, were measured during the smoke-diving. While the fire fighter s were performing the smoke-diving, they also thought aloud all the ti me to demonstrate their cognitive functioning. The study indicated tha t as the stress reaction increased, the controlled task-focused thinki ng decreased. This inverse relationship between stress and cognitive p erformance remained the same although the fire fighters' age, resting HR, physical fitness and smoke-diving time were statistically standard ized. Training which increases automatic processing in standard perfor mance operations under stress is suggested as a stress management stra tegy.