Exposure to elevated temperature atmospheres can lead to hypothermia and possibly burns. Physiologically, exposure to an environment of elevated temperatures can cause an increase in blood temperature. Generally, exposures of short duration will not cause a significant increase in body temperatures because of the body's thermal capacity. However, exposures of short duration may be sufficient to cause an appreciable increase in the blood temperature and cause burns to skin tissue or the respiratory tract. As in the case of exposure to CO, the effect of such an exposure on a specific individual depends on the physiological characteristics of the individual (Klote and Milke 1992Klote and Milke 1992:
Klote, J.H., and Milke, J. A. (1992), Design of Smoke Management Systems, American Society for Heating Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineering, Atlanta, GA, 1992.).

NOTE: This is an unformatted excerpt from our online fire protection training library.