Emergency Preparedness hat Bennett Stothers St George's School Floor Location: J6H

The Canadian government and the Red Cross recommend all families keep an emergency preparedness kit (E.P. kit) to aid in survival in the event of a natural disaster. Specific clothing recommendations are often not included in the list of recommended supplies to be in the E.P. kits. Since 30% of your body heat is lost through your head, a hat is a reasonable consideration to include in the kit. The most common hat designs in Canada are: full toque, skull cap and baseball cap. Outdoor clothing experts recommend: (1) Synthetic ‘quick dry’ fabrics (2) Wool and (3) Using layers to maintain heat. The purpose of this study is to test the rate of heat lost from a model of the human head when it is covered by a variety of different hats compared to a control (no hat). The hypothesis is: A layered hat containing natural and synthetic fibers will have the slowest rate of heat loss within the physiologic temperature range of a human. Materials and Method: Two simulated heads were constructed for the test. They were heated to within the human physiologic temperature range and continuously monitored for core temperature. The control was heat loss without a hat. Four hat types were tested:(1) A full wool Toque (2) synthetic skull cap (3) baseball hat (4) versus a homemade multilayer hat constructed from the principles recommended by outdoor clothing experts: 2 layers of wool and one outer layer of breathable waterproof fabric. The first human head model featured )1) Exact shape of human head to allow a best fit for the hats (2) Access for continuous read thermometer to the core of the model (3)Use same model head for each test to reduce variability. A more advanced human head model was constructed and featured: (1) Brain chamber with vertical access to core 80% water to 20% cream of wheat mixture to simulate brain tissue (2) Plaster volume to simulate bone structures (3) Air pocket to simulate sinuses (3) Foil packed neck cavity to isolate head from neck continuous read decimal thermometer which monitored a smaller and more precise temperature range .

In both models the baseball cap performed the poorest with the greatest rate of heat loss being almost indistinguishable from the control. The second best performing hat was the synthetic skull cap. The wool toque performed the best from the group of pre-made hats. Finally, the homemade multilayer hat performed the best with the slowest rate of heat loss. It also offered the advantage through its design to allow for the use of one, two or three layers depending on the situation and the ability to have a waterproof layer.

In conclusion a layered hat containing natural and synthetic fibers will have the slowest rate of heat loss within the physiologic temperature range of a human. Think about including a hat in your E.P. kit – keeping warm can be a key to survival in an emergency.