Firefighter garment with lumbar support

A firefighter garment having an outer shell with a waist portion covering a lower back area of a wearer and a front closure, an inner liner having a thermal layer and shaped to fit within the outer shell and a support member, attached to the outer shell, for supporting a lumbar region of the wearer. The support member preferably includes a plurality of elastic bands extending about the waist portion of the garment and having complementary closure members positioned adjacent to the front closure of the outer shell, and a contact member, attached to the elastic straps, positioned to contact the lumbar region of the wearer. In one embodiment, the elastic straps are integral with the garment, preferably a pant, and in another embodiment, the support member comprises a girdle which is attachable to the firefighter pant and includes buttons for attachment to suspenders, thereby forming a component of a pant suspension system. In one embodiment, the contact member consists of a resilient pad centered in the lumbar area of the wearer, and in another embodiment, the contact member consists of a plurality of elongate, vertically-extending stays.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention relates to firefighter garments and, more 
particularly, firefighter garments having orthopedic components for 
reducing the strain of a wearer when encountering heavy loads. 
A typical firefighter garment includes a pant and jacket, each having an 
outer shell of a fire-resistant material such as an aramid fiber (NOMEX 
and KEVLAR brand aramid fibers, both products of E. I. DuPont de Nemours & 
Co., Inc.) and an inner liner having a moisture barrier component and a 
thermal barrier component. The moisture barrier may be FORTEX material (a 
trademark of W. L. Gore & Associates, Inc.) and the thermal barrier may be 
a felt of aramid fibers. The inner liner components typically are quilted 
together, and the inner liner is separable from the outer shell to 
facilitate laundering of the garment. 
The firefighter pant typically is beltless and is held in position by 
suspenders which fit under the jacket. The inner pant liner and outer pant 
shell snap or button together and the suspender ends or tabs may attach to 
such buttons or snaps, or may be attached by separate means. Both the 
jacket and the pant are loose fitting and somewhat baggy to allow freedom 
of movement. 
While such firefighter garments provide adequate protection against such 
hazards as heat, water and flash flame, they provide no protection for the 
hazard of muscle strain, especially in the lumbar region of the spine of 
the wearer. In the fighting of fire, the firefighter is called upon to 
carry heavy equipment, such as hoses and ladders, over his shoulder, and 
occasionally is required to carry an injured person over his shoulder in 
the well-known "firemen's carry" maneuver. In addition, the firefighter 
often carries a tank of breathing air strapped to his back. All of these 
items and activities impose a stress upon the lumbar region of the back 
which is often an unbalanced imposition of a weight load. 
While there are many types of designs for so-called lumbar stabilizers, 
such as the stabilizer disclosed in Porterfield, et. al. U.S. Pat. No. 
4,794,916 and Miller U.S. Pat. No. 4,991,573, such devices are designed to 
provide comfort and reduce stress to an individual who has sustained an 
injury in the lumbar area of the spine. It is not an object of such 
devices to provide a prophylactic benefit to a wearer in the hazardous 
environment of a firefighter. Further, such devices are designed to be 
worn independently of any other type of garment and typically are worn 
underneath the outer garments of a wearer. 
It is impractical to require firefighters to keep track of and separately 
put on such lumbar stabilizers, in addition to all of the other 
firefighter garments and gear, in the rush to answer an alarm. 
Accordingly, there is a need for a firefighter garment which provides 
support for a firefighter in the lumbar region of the wearer's spine in 
order to minimize the risk of injury to that region sustained during 
strenuous firefighting activity. 
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION 
The present invention is a firefighter garment with a support which 
minimizer the stress imposed upon the lumbar region of the spine of the 
wearer, thereby reducing the likelihood of spinal and muscle injury to 
firefighters in the course of firefighting activities. The support is 
integral with the garment and can be selectively activated and deactivated 
so that the support feature is applied only when needed. Another benefit 
of the invention is the so-called "placebo effect," wherein the mere 
presence of the invention in a firefighter garment makes the wearer 
self-conscious of his lifting form, and serves to encourage use of good 
lifting form. 
In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the garment is a firefighter 
pant having an inner liner with a thermal layer and an outer shell having 
a waist portion covering the lower back area of the wearer, including the 
lumbar region, and a support member, attached to the shell, for supporting 
the lumbar region of the wearer. The support member includes a plurality 
of elastic bands which encircle the waist of the wearer and includes a 
closure mechanism in the front of the wearer adjacent to the pant closure. 
The elastic bands support a contact member positioned adjacent the lumbar 
region of the spine, which ensures proper alignment of the lumbar 
vertebrae during bending and lifting. In one embodiment, the contact 
member is a pad positioned over the lumbar vertebrae and in another 
embodiment, stays extend vertically in parallel with the lumbar vertebrae. 
The closure member of the elastic bands allows the wearer support the 
closure member by connecting the closure member, thereby applying a 
radially inward pressure against the lumbar region, or deactivate the 
support member by disconnecting the closure member to relax the elastic 
bands. Accordingly, the support member be comfortably all times and 
activated only when needed during strenuous firefighting activity. 
In an alternate embodiment, the support member includes a girdle made of 
shell material which encloses the waist of the wearer in the lumbar region 
and includes inner and outer layers in closing the elastic bands. The 
girdle includes buttons for connecting to suspenders, and button holes or 
snaps for connection to the firefighter pant, thereby acting as an 
integral component of the pant suspension system. Such a girdle is 
therefore retrofittable to existing firefighter pants. The girdle includes 
a front closure member, separate from the elastic bands, so that the 
girdle may be worn comfortably at all times, and the elastic bands 
adjusted activate it when needed. 
In all of the embodiments, it is preferable to provide closure members 
consisting of complementary strips of hook and loop material. However, 
other closure members, such as buckles, snaps and hook-and-D connectors 
may be used. 
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a 
firefighter garment with an integral lumbar support mechanism; a 
firefighter garment with a lumbar support mechanism which be activated and 
de-activated as needed to ensure wearer comfort at all times; a 
firefighter garment with integral lumbar support mechanism for a 
firefighter garment which does not add significantly to the weight of the 
firefighter garment; a firefighter garment with a lumbar support mechanism 
which is relatively easy to activate and de-activate as needed; and a 
firefighter garment with a lumbar support mechanism which is relatively 
inexpensive to incorporate into the garment, or can be provided as an 
integral component retrofitted to an existing garment design. 
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from 
the following description, the accompanying drawings and the appended 
claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION 
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the firefighter garment of the present 
invention, generally designated 10, is a pant having an outer shell 12 
made of a woven aramid fiber such as NOMEX or KEVLAR. The outer shell 
includes a front closure 14 which is secured by snaps 16. The pant 10 
includes an inner liner 18 having an outer moisture barrier quilted to a 
batting of NOMEX fibers. The inner liner 18 is shaped to fit within the 
outer shell 12 and is attached to the outer shell at the waistline 20 by 
snaps 22. The liner 18 includes suspender buttons 23 which protrude 
through the shell 12. 
The waist portion 24 of the garment includes a support member, generally 
designated 26. The support member includes upper and lower elastic straps 
28, 30, respectively. The waist portion 24 and support member 26 are 
positioned on the pant 10 to encircle the midriff of a wearer, and the 
rear portion of the support member is positioned to lie adjacent to the 
lumbar region of the spine of the wearer. 
Adjacent ends of the straps 28, 30 are connected by closure tabs 32, 34, 
and each of the tabs has attached to its underside a hook component 35 of 
a hook and loop closure mechanism. Similarly, straps 28, 30 include strips 
36 of hook material. The outer shell 12 includes complementary strips 38, 
39 loop material, and the outer surfaces of the straps 28, 30 adjacent 
tabs 32, 34 include squares 40 of loop material (see also FIG. 4). 
The straps 28, 30 extend through slits 41, 42 formed in the outer shell 
which, at the waist portion 24, includes inner retainer squares 43 of 
shell material stitched to the outer shell. The portions of straps 28, 30 
extending between slits 41, 42 extend between the squares 43 and shell 12. 
The straps 28, 30 support a plurality of oblong, vertically-extending 
stays 44, secured by hook and loop connections 45 to the radially inner 
surface of the straps. The straps preferably are made of a rigid plastic 
material such as nylon. The straps 28, 30 are secured to the rear of the 
waist portion 24 by stitching 46 and the stays 44 are positioned to lie on 
either side of the lumbar vertebrae of a wearer. 
As shown in FIG. 1, the rear portion 48 of the waist portion 24 of the pant 
10 is raised, relative to the front portion of the pant, to ensure that a 
sufficient portion of the lumbar region of the wearer is contacted by the 
stays 44. 
The method of activating the support member 26 is shown sequentially in 
FIGS. 1, 3, and 4. FIG. 1 shows the support member in a de-activated 
configuration; that is, the tabs 32, 34 are not attached to each other and 
accordingly, the straps 28, 30 do not exert an inward constrictive force 
on the mid-section of a wearer. Preferably, tabs 32, 34 are attached to 
panels 38 of loop material adjacent to slits 41, 42 (see FIG. 2). 
As shown in FIG. 3, in order to activate the support member 26, tab 32 is 
brought over to panel 39 so that the panels 35 and/or 36 on tab 32 and/or 
straps 28, 30 (see FIG. 2) contact panel 39, thereby attaching the tab to 
the pant 10 at the position of panel 39. Next, as shown in FIG. 4, tab 34 
is superposed to squares 40 so that panel 36 on tab 34 is brought into 
contact with the squares 40 to make a connection and fix the tab 34 
relative to the squares. Accordingly, the pant 10 shown in FIG. 4 is in an 
activated configuration in which the ends of the straps 38, 30 are in an 
overlapping relation and are tightened about the waist of a wearer, 
thereby urging the stays 44 into the lower back of the wearer in the 
lumbar region, preferably on either side of the lumbar vertebrae. This 
constrictive pressure supports the back of the wearer and reduces the 
likelihood of back injury due to heavy or unbalanced lifting. 
The adjustment of the support member 26 from the activated configuration 
shown in FIG. 4 to the de-activated configuration shown in FIG. 1 is 
simply the reverse of the aforementioned steps. The tab 34 is pulled away 
from the straps 28, 30, thereby separating the hook and loop panels from 
each other, and the tail is allowed to retract to its normal position. Tab 
32 is then separated from the shell 12, thereby separating the hook and 
loop closure panels on the tab and pant shell 12 at that point, and straps 
28, 30 are allowed to retract t their unstretched positions. The tabs 32, 
34 then assume the configuration shown in FIG. 1. It is anticipated that a 
firefighter wearing the pant 10 of the present invention would wear the 
pant principally in a de-activated configuration, as shown in FIG. 1, then 
adjust the support member 26 to the activated configuration of FIG. 4 
before fighting a fire or engaging in heavy lifting. 
An alternate embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. In FIG. 
5, the support member 26' includes a girdle 50 made of inner and outer 
layers 52, 54 of shell material stitched together at their peripheries. 
The girdle 50 includes a front closure 56 which includes complementary 
panels 58, 60 of hook and loop material to secure the girdle when worn. 
The straps 28, 30 are attached at their ends to tabs 32', 34', each of 
which has a panel of hook and loop material 62, 64 attached to it. 
The girdle 50 includes snaps 66 about its lower periphery and suspender 
buttons 68 attached to about its upper periphery. As shown in FIG. 6, the 
girdle 50 is attached to a firefighter pant 10' by engagement of the 
girdle with complementary snaps 70 mounted on the outer shell and 
complementary snaps 72 mounted on the inner liner 18'. A pair of standard 
firefighter suspenders 74 are then attached to the buttons 68 of the 
girdle 50 to complete the pant 10' construction. 
In order to activate the girdle 50, panel 32' is stretched to contact the 
exposed portion of panel 58 of the girdle and is attached by means of the 
hook and loop connection between those components. The tab 34' is then 
stretched and attached to the back side of tab 32' so that the 
complementary hook and loop panels of those components engage. When this 
connection is effected, the stays 44 are urged into the lumbar region of 
the back of the wearer by the constrictive force of the straps 28, 30. 
A second alternate embodiment 10" having a modified support member 26" is 
shown in FIG. 7. In this embodiment, the support member 26" is identical 
in all respects to the support member 26 of FIGS. 1-4, except that the 
stays 44 have been replaced by a lumbar pad 76. The lumbar pad 76 is made 
of a thick, hard foam and is approximately 8 inches long, 6 inches wide, 
and 1/2 inch thick. The pad 76 is attached by hook and loop connections 78 
to the straps 28, 30 of the support member 26". Accordingly, when the 
support member 26" of the pant 10" shown in FIG. 7 is activated, the 
straps 28, 30 urge the pad 76 into the lumbar vertebrae of the wearer to 
provide support for lifting and bending movement. 
It should be noted that the preferred embodiment of the invention shows a 
support member which is integral or unitary with a firefighter pant. It is 
within the scope of the invention to provide a support member which is 
unitary or integral with the jacket portion of a firefighter garment. 
Further, other closure means may be used to adjust the support member to 
an activated configuration. For example, the hook and loop attachment 
panels may be replaced with other mechanical attachment mechanisms such as 
a perforated belt and buckle or a hook and D connection. However, the hook 
and loop connection is preferred because of the ease of attachment and 
removal. 
While the forms of apparatus herein described constitute preferred 
embodiments of this invention, it is to be understood that the invention 
is not limited to these precise forms of apparatus, and that changes may 
be made therein without departing from the scope of the invention.