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DRDC Toronto is a major military research station located at the former site of CFB Downsview in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of several centres making up Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).
The centre's roots go back to 1939 when the Department of National Defence (DND) recognized the vital importance of human factors in the ability of Canada's armed forces to safeguard the nation in peacetime and at war. [1] Recognizing the importance of aviation medicine to defence, an inter-departmental committee, the Associate Committee on Aviation Medical Research, was established in June, 1939, chaired by Sir Frederick Banting. Laboratory studies in pressure physiology began in the Banting and Best Institute, University of Toronto, where the first decompression chamber for human studies in Canada was set up.
To expand the effort, in 1940, the No.1 Clinical Investigation Unit (No1 CIU) was formed at the former Eglinton Hunt Club at 1107 Avenue Road with the construction of a low-temperature low-pressure chamber to support research on human capabilities under extremes of cold and high altitude. This led to extensive activity in the development of oxygen and survival equipment for the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The second significant experimental facility constructed was the first human centrifuge in the allied countries, pioneered by Dr. Wilbur R. Franks and his colleagues. [2] This was brought into operation in late 1941, and by August 1945 more than 13, 000 human runs had been carried out without a mishap. This machine was used to pioneer and create the world's first anti "G" flying suit to go into service, when it was worn during Operation Torch during the battle for Oran with the Royal Navy's Fleet Air Arm in November 1942. [3]
In the post-war period, research in aviation medicine continued in the universities and at Avenue Road, now renamed the RCAF Institute of Aviation Medicine (RCAF/IAF). It was assigned responsibilities for aviation medical training, medical statistics, aircrew medical selection, life support and survival equipment and clinical aviation medicine. Under unification in 1968, it was renamed the Canadian Forces Institute of Environment Medicine (CFIEM).
In 1947, the Defence Research Board (DRB) was established with its primary responsibility in the field of military medicine and the study of occupational problems of the armed services. [2] Basically, DRB was directed to the study of the environmental factors and hazards affecting them, and the assessment of their task with the view of improving their performance in it.
To address the new DRB role in military human factors research, the Defence Research Medical Laboratory (DRML) was constructed at Downsview, Ontario in 1952, with the official opening on 12 February 1954. Its program was widened to embrace studies of tri-service applicability and included food and clothing research. This laboratory was renamed the Defence Research Establishment Toronto (DRET) in 1968.
In an effort to consolidate the research effort in the military, DRET and CFIEM were amalgamated in April 1971 and a new organization was formed, the Defence and Civil Institute of Environmental Medicine. DCIEM had a combined military and civilian research staff, which provided a unique combination of operational and scientific expertise that addressed the operational needs of the Canadian Forces in all environments. [2] Over the years many new unique facilities were developed at DCIEM, including a new human centrifuge, hot and cold climatic chambers, hypobaric (1954) and hyperbaric (1977) chambers, and impact studies facility (1978).
The unification of the three services into the Canadian Forces (CF) in 1968 saw DRB evolve, becoming the Research and Development Branch of the CF by 1974. [2] The laboratories of the DRB were integrated to DND through the formation of the Defence Research and Development (R&D) Branch (DRDB) to forge closer relationships between scientists and the military. The new branch was led by the Chief of Research and Development (CRAD), within the Assistant Deputy Minister (Materiel) group.
The Hunt Club location closed in 1994 and its operations moved to Downsview. The R&D Branch was reorganized on April 1, 2000, when it became Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), part of DND. [2] As Canada's leader in defence and national security science and technology (S&T), DRDC maintains a broad scientific program and actively collaborates with industry, international allies, academia, other government departments and the national security community. DRDC Toronto and its forebears have made major contributions to knowledge and equipment which has not only aided the Canadian Forces in the completion of their missions, but has had a significant impact in the civilian sector both in Canada and worldwide.[ citation needed ]
DRDC Toronto is a research and development organisation for integrated human effectiveness, science and technology (S&T) in defence and national security. It provides the Canadian Forces (CF), government agencies, academia, and industrial clients with an internationally recognized combination of expertise and research facilities. [4]
DRDC Toronto uses a systems-based approach to cover all aspects of human performance and effectiveness, including individual and team performance, human-technology interaction, and the social and psychological factors that affect the resolution of conflict.
Their scientists and technologists apply, exploit and share the results of research in the following fields:
The Human Effectiveness Experimentation Centre manages DRDC Toronto's major research facilities. These facilities, which are used to simulate a broad range of operational environments, include:
JOHSC provides integrated human science and technical solutions in support of the CF across current and future operational environments through research, development and evaluation. JOHSC members are part of the co-located Canadian Forces Environmental Medicine Establishment (CFEME).
JOHSC can provide valuable and timely advice to a range of aerospace, land and sea/undersea challenges.
JOHSC can also utilize the unique facilities and scientific expertise of DRDC Toronto and other DRDC centres to provide S&T solutions to the CF.
DRDC Valcartier is a major Canadian military research station at Canadian Forces Base Valcartier, Quebec, one of nine centres making up Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).
Defence Research and Development Canada is the science and technology organization of the Department of National Defence (DND), whose purpose is to provide the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), other government departments, and public safety and national security communities with knowledge and technology.
Diving medicine, also called undersea and hyperbaric medicine (UHB), is the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of conditions caused by humans entering the undersea environment. It includes the effects on the body of pressure on gases, the diagnosis and treatment of conditions caused by marine hazards and how relationships of a diver's fitness to dive affect a diver's safety. Diving medical practitioners are also expected to be competent in the examination of divers and potential divers to determine fitness to dive.
Canadian Forces Base Suffield is a Canadian Forces base, host to the largest army training area in Canada. It is located in southeastern Alberta, 3 nautical miles north-northwest of Suffield, 50 km (31 mi) northwest of the city of Medicine Hat and 250 km (160 mi) southeast of Calgary. It is accessible via Highway 884, a public road that bisects the main hub section of the base.
A hypobaric chamber, or altitude chamber, is a chamber used during aerospace or high terrestrial altitude research or training to simulate the effects of high altitude on the human body, especially hypoxia and hypobaria. Some chambers also control for temperature and relative humidity.
Canadian Forces Base Toronto is a former Canadian Forces base in Toronto, Ontario. The airfield is currently operated as Toronto / Downsview Airport.
The Communications Research Centre Canada is a Canadian government scientific laboratory for research and development in wireless technologies, with a particular focus on the efficient use of radio frequency spectrum. Its mission is as follows:
The Naval Submarine Medical Research Laboratory (NSMRL) is located on the New London Submarine Base in Groton, Connecticut. It is a subordinate command of the Naval Medical Research Command.
Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) divers are specialists trained to conduct underwater operations within their respective environmental commands. Divers within the CAF are qualified into sub-categories of diving. Be it a member of a diving team or a CAF member who is maintaining currency and qualification through casual diving. Divers within the CAF are trained as Clearance Divers, Search and Rescue Technicians (SAR), Port Inspection Divers (PID), Ship's Team Divers, and Combat Divers.
The Defence Research Establishment Suffield was the name of the military research facility located 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Suffield, Alberta, from 1967 to its renaming to DRDC Suffield in 2000.
DRDC Suffield is a major Canadian military research facility located 5 km (3.1 mi) north of Suffield, Alberta, and is one of eight centres making up Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC).
The RAF Centre of Aviation Medicine is a medical organisation run by the Royal Air Force and based at RAF Henlow in Bedfordshire. It is the main organisation conducting aviation medicine research in the UK.
The decompression of a diver is the reduction in ambient pressure experienced during ascent from depth. It is also the process of elimination of dissolved inert gases from the diver's body which accumulate during ascent, largely during pauses in the ascent known as decompression stops, and after surfacing, until the gas concentrations reach equilibrium. Divers breathing gas at ambient pressure need to ascend at a rate determined by their exposure to pressure and the breathing gas in use. A diver who only breathes gas at atmospheric pressure when free-diving or snorkelling will not usually need to decompress, Divers using an atmospheric diving suit do not need to decompress as they are never exposed to high ambient pressure.
Hypobaric decompression is the reduction in ambient pressure below the normal range of sea level atmospheric pressure. Altitude decompression is hypobaric decompression which is the natural consequence of unprotected elevation to altitude, while other forms of hypobaric decompression are due to intentional or unintentional release of pressurization of a pressure suit or pressurized compartment, vehicle or habitat, and may be controlled or uncontrolled, or the reduction of pressure in a hypobaric chamber.
The Biological and Chemical Defence Review Committee, or BCDRC is a civilian body having oversight of the Canadian military's activities in the area of defence against biological and chemical warfare.
Neal Pollock is a Canadian academic and diver. Born in Edmonton, Canada he completed a bachelor's degree in zoology; the first three years at University of Alberta and the final year at the University of British Columbia. After completing a master's degree he then served as diving officer at University of British Columbia for almost five years. He then moved to Florida and completed a doctorate in exercise physiology/environmental physiology at Florida State University.
The United States Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine (USAFSAM) is the United States Air Force (USAF) organization focused on education, research, and operational consultation in aerospace and operational medicine. USAFSAM was founded in 1918 to conduct research into the medical and physiologic domains related to human flight, and as a school for medical officers trained to support military aviation operations, later coined as flight surgeons. The school supported early military aviation from World War I through the evolution of aviation and into the modern era. USAFSAM conducted medical research and provided medical support for the initial US space operations beginning in 1947 through the establishment of NASA in 1958. After the creation of NASA, USAFSAM continued to actively support civilian and military manned space missions through clinical and physiologic research. USAFSAM is one of the oldest continually operating school for flight surgeons and other operational medical personnel of its kind in the world. USAFSAM is located in Dayton, Ohio at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, and is part of the 711th Human Performance Wing and the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL).
Blue Abyss is a research pool planned for construction in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It will be 50 metres (160 ft) deep with volume of approximately 42,000 cubic metres (1,500,000 cu ft), making it the world's second deepest pool after the Deep Dive Dubai.
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