New UConn Lab Tackles Heat Illness Prevention

A new $1 million heat laboratory is set to open this month at the University of Connecticut, designed to position the school as a national leader in heat illness prevention. 

Housed at the Korey Stringer Institute at Gampel Pavillion in Storrs, the heat lab significantly expands UConn’s ability to create extreme environmental conditions and test a wide range of military, athletic, and occupational scenarios.   

“The lab can go from minus 20 up to 120 degrees Fahrenheit, from 20 to 90 percent humidity, and from full cloud to full sun,” said Dr. Douglas Casa, the institute’s chief executive officer. 

“It can also create winds up to 20 miles per hour and altitudes up to 12,000 feet.” 

Those kinds of conditions and physical stresses are relevant for a number of clients the lab currently serves, including Delta Airlines, UPS, and the U.S. Postal Service.   

Heat Safety 

Employers are increasing their focus on heat safety as heat-related illnesses and deaths continue to rise from both acute and chronic health effects.  

“Global warming is happening so much faster than expected,” Casa said.

“From 1968 to now, the number of heat waves we’ve experienced has tripled.”

UConn’s Douglas Casa

“Even the experts couldn’t have predicted how fast.

“From 1968 to now, the number of heat waves we’ve experienced has tripled. In the next 40 years, they may increase eight- or 10-fold.” 

In New England and other northern states, heat safety is critical because workers are less prepared for extended periods of heat than workers in more southern states.  

Origins 

The institute bears the name of a Minnesota Vikings offensive lineman who passed away from exertional heat stroke after five years in the NFL.  

After his death in 2001, Korey Stringer’s wife, Kelci, worked to develop an exertional heat stroke prevention institute to honor her husband’s legacy.  

The institute bears the name of an NFL player who passed away from exertional heat stroke.

The institute was established at UConn in 2010 when Kelci Stringer joined forces with Casa, an exertional heat stroke expert and a heat stroke survivor. 

The first heat lab at UConn opened in 1990. After raising approximately $350,000 and receiving $350,000 in funding from UConn, a second heat lab opened in 2017, replacing the original.  

Naming rights for two companies contributed $500,000 to funding for the new lab, matching UConn’s $500,000 contribution. 

Lab Expansion, Focus 

Currently, the institute’s two heat labs employ 30 people. Among its 72 volunteers are UConn students studying allied health, physiology, and neurobiology and exercise science.  

Plans to open the institute’s first satellite lab at the University of North Florida in Jacksonville are underway.  

The institute hopes to take advantage of being near more than 100,000 outdoor workers and nine military bases, and creating research partnerships to test the effects of chronic heat stress.  

Casa said future costs associated with heat-related illness would likely come from worker’s compensation claims, training for replacement workers, liability issues, lawsuits, and decreased productivity when people aren’t properly hydrated or cooled. 

“The small cost of properly hydrating and cooling workers results in a big productivity benefit.”

Casa

To mitigate those costs, the lab performs tests on textiles, like uniforms, wearable technology, and other safety devices for a variety of cooling strategies. 

The research helps support legislation for heaty safety measures. In the absence of federal heat standards, seven states have already adopted their own standards.

Casa said the institute is actively working to help pass legislation in Connecticut. 

“The small cost of properly hydrating and cooling workers results in a big productivity benefit,” Casa said.