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Today's nuclear
workers face more and more challenges everyday in
this industry. They are expected to perform at peak
mental and physical states, to work efficiently,
save dose, and prevent mental errors. The best way
to ensure that your workers or contractors are
performing at peak levels is to ensure that they
work in a "personal" environment that promotes this
high level of productivity while increasing their
safety. The Hydropack is very effective at
increasing worker productivity and safety especially
if combined with the Hurricane Hood systems.
Radium's Hydropack is
an in-suit or under protective clothing, hands-free
worker hydration system. The system can be used with
the Hurricane Hoods or as a stand alone system.
Features:
- Very compact
size
- Every
Hydropack has features to mount a Hurricane Hood
CAT-2 blower at any time.
- If hydration
is not needed, it can be used without the
reservoir and only as a Hurricane Hood CAT-2
backpack
- Hydropack is
laundrable
- Holds 1.5
liters of water. (Other sizes available)
- Reservoir is
guaranteed not to leak!
- No spill bite
valve! - Users can drink water by simply biting
down on the bite valve. Valve closes when
released.
- Economical
bite valves can be changed easily for different
users.
Why hydrate your outage workforce?
For workers to perform at their peak ability, proper hydration is the utmost importance.
During physical work, your heart increases the blood flow to your muscles and your
skin to cool them down. Through perspiration, your body loses about 1 liter of water
per hour based on moderate activity. If you do not replace the water you lose, your
body starts to become dehydrated. At a higher heart rate and core temperature, your
body can’t produce more energy, leaving you weak and much more vulnerable to heat
stress illnesses.
Besides the obvious personal safety issues that dehydration can
cause, you also have a less productive worker in the field that takes longer to
complete tasks which also results in high accumulated dose.
The best defense against
dehydration is a good offense - - drink often - - at least 1 liter per hour for
moderate activity in moderate conditions. It is also better to drink continuously.
6-8 ounces every 15-20 minutes is recommended by the American College of Sports
Medicine. Remember thirst is a delayed response, and by the time you are thirsty,
your body is dehydrated.
Radium’s Hydropack is a one-of-a-kind device (patent pending)
that not only provides in-suit hands-free hydration; it also has an integrated Hurricane
Hood blower to quickly cool your body by pumping a continuous large volume of air
over your body which quickly evaporates your perspiration and pushing it out of
the suit, keeping you workforce cooler, safer, and more productive.
Why wear an
ice vest?
A Hydropack
reservoir can be frozen like and ice vest to
keep you cool. But when the Hydropack melts, you
are not carrying around dead weight as you would
with an ice vest. When a Hydropack melts, you
have a ready source of water for hydration.
Changing
times in the Nuclear Power Industry
There were
times in the Nuclear Power Industry when having
water in the containment building, in a
radioactive contaminated zone, or any other
contaminated area was not allowed due to the
possibility of internal intake of radioactive
contaminates. Times have changed and we are now
seeing water fountains and "cool rooms" for
workers to cool off and hydrate themselves.
Better worker anti-contamination methods and
procedures have proven that workers can hydrate
themselves and NOT become internally
contaminated.
Why the change?
The rise of heat stress issues in the industry
played a big part in these changes. The changes
we are seeing today, have helped reduce heat
stress issues but have we gone far enough?
Water fountains
and cool rooms take a lot of time and dose to
setup, maintain, monitor, or replenish. They
also contribute to generating a high level of
radwaste with constant glove changes, etc. An
ideal solution would be a hydration system that
did not have these disadvantages and
would increase a worker's productivity, safety,
and quality of work.
The Hydropack
is the ideal solution that can provide today's
nuclear workers a ready source of cold water for
hydration and keep the user cooler when
used with the Hurricane Hood systems at
his/her work area. Increase productivity,
safety, and quality of work is what Radium's
products promote.
For more information about
Radium's Hydropack or Hurricane Hoods, don't hesitate to contact us at (803)
414-4445 or
hurricanehoods@radiuminc.com. |
