CoolCop Beats the Heat
An inside look at police and military cooling technology.
June 18, 2007 — -- It's not Robocop. It's cooler.
A California sergeant-by-day, inventor-by-night has revolutionized the way that cops keep cool as summer temperatures soar.
And police aren't the only ones feeling the burn of the rising mercury. U.S. military experts reported 3,000 cases of heat exhaustion in the past two years.
So, while the Iraq government might get a break from the heat next month, some U.S. soldiers, who have little respite from the scorching temperatures, will be using similar microclimate cooling vests and even a glove to fight the desertlike conditions.
Although modern equipment cools soldiers only when they are hooked up to their tanks and planes, the future generation of military technology will take the heat off individual soldiers on foot patrol, and even U.S. civilians working outdoors.
And since alertness and physical strength decrease with rising body temperatures, some physiologists said that this cooling equipment could save lives.
Sgt. Ron Baldal's CoolCop device might just be the next big thing for police since Dunkin' Donuts. It looks like a vacuum cleaner hose that attaches to the air conditioning vent on one end, and blows cool air directly between the officer's shirt and bulletproof vest on the other end.
After more than 20 years on the job, CoolCop inventor Baldal said he knows firsthand how things can heat up when wearing a wool uniform, bulletproof vest and 25 pounds of equipment on your back.
"Working in full uniform feels like you've wrapped plastic around your chest area and have to run in 100 degree heat and 90 percent humidity," he said.
Even when cops get back into their air-conditioned cars, they still can't escape the steamy weather, because the cooled air doesn't get behind their body armor.
But the flexible CoolCop hose does. The CoolCop contraption comes complete with a dashboard attachment, a 6-foot long flex hose and soft vinyl vest attachment.
And no one can sell it better than the people who actually use it.
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