“The better we understand human factors, the more effective our operations will be”: Eric Yap discusses the science behind firefighter fatigue
Iain Hoey
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By Eric Yap, Commissioner, Singapore Civil Defence Force
Over the past nine years, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) embarked on a number of transformation initiatives – from external facing ones like establishing a strong and wide network of community first responders to those that are organisation centric such as leveraging technology, in particular robots, data analytics and AI, to augment operations and regulatory processes.
As expected, implementation had its challenges, but the outcomes achieved outweighed the efforts.
One of the stand-out transformation initiatives is applying the science of human factors to firefighters’ training.
It is a vision turned reality for the SCDF and I believe, this is a promising future direction for many services seeking to reduce fatigue, injury and optimise performance of their personnel, which must be our greatest asset.
Within the SCDF’s academy is a purpose-built centre called Emergency Responders Fitness Conditioning & Enhancement Lab or EXCEL with five labs – (1) Strength, Conditioning, and Rehabilitation in a Virtual Environment (STRiVE); (2) Heat Acclimatisation & Thermoregulation Lab; (3) Fitness Evaluation Lab; (4) Cognitive Lab; and (5) Digital Learning Lab.
Conventional firefighting training is based largely on the progressive development of skillsets and strength.
While important, we may not however be optimising human performance which is an aspect that only science will reveal the datapoints to focus training on.
To illustrate, in the Cognitive Lab, firefighters undergo a virtual fire and rescue scenario where the person’s visual scan patterns are evaluated.
When an untrained person sees a fire, he/she tends to focus on it.
With training, the convergence of skillsets and abilities like situational awareness becomes apparent.
A firefighter will assess a fire for surrounding risks, and what it might pose to their team and those requiring rescue assistance.
From the eye tracker and cognitive evaluation, we can assess the mental workload of individuals through a functional near-infra spectroscopy system.
Coupled with psychomotor vigilance assessment, we can identify attention and fatigue-related changes throughout different task types or training.
Establishing such data enables training type and intensity to be calibrated.
In operations, we can strike at an optimal work-rest cycle for responders.
Ultimately, firefighters’ agility, gait, strength, endurance, and alertness in full personal protective gear are correlated and the better we understand human factors, the more effective our operations will be.
EXCEL commenced operations in mid-2022 and has since received considerable international interest, leading us to start a fellowship programme in which we welcome interested partners to jointly conduct R&D projects at the centre.
SCDF will be showcasing this and other innovations at the Singapore-International Disaster & Emergency Management Expo 2025 (SIDEX 2025) in November 2025.
Details are available from www.sidex.sg
About the IFSJ Influencer
Eric Yap has served in the SCDF for over 30 years and of which, 12 years as the Commissioner.
He has successfully led SCDF towards its 10-year Transformation 2025 vision of building A Nation of Lifesavers.
Recently, in July 2024, SCDF unveiled its Transformation 2030 plan aimed at developing future-ready capabilities.
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