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Unit of study_
HSBH3021: Environmental Stress and Physiological Strain
2024 unit information
This unit of study provides students with both theoretical knowledge and first-hand experience (through laboratory practicals) of how the human body responds to extreme environmental stressors (i.e. high altitude, hyperbaria, extreme heat, extreme cold), and how these conditions alter the capacity of humans to perform physical and mental tasks. Special attention will also be given to the theoretical basis of how these stressors can lead to decrements to human health in the form of injury (e.g. frostibite, heat exhaustion) and illness (e.g. pulmonary/cerebral oedema, actue mountain sickness, 'the bends'). This unit will also focus on how this information can be used to develop therapeutic, pharmacological, and/or technological interventions to improve human functioning in extreme environments and reduce the risk of illness and injury. Teaching and learning strategies include lectures, case studies and short practical assignments.
Unit details and rules
Managing faculty or University school:
Medicine and Health
| Study level | Undergraduate |
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| Academic unit | Movement Sciences |
| Credit points | 6 |
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Prerequisites:
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EXSS1036 |
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Corequisites:
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None |
| Prohibitions:
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None |
| Assumed knowledge:
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EXSS2032 |
At the completion of this unit, you should be able to:
- LO1. understand how humans respond both behaviourally and physiologically to cope with acute and chronic exposures to hot and cold environments, as well as high altitude and high pressure environments
- LO2. understand how responses to different environmental extremes are proxies for human responses to certain diseases and health disorders (e.g. altitude/COPD and cardiovascular disorders)
- LO3. describe how the capacity to perform different occupational activities can be compromised by different extreme environmental characteristics
- LO4. explain how different therapeutic, pharmacological and/or technological interventions can be employed to improve work capacity in the face of a single and combined environmental stressor
- LO5. understand the aetiology of injury and illnesses that occur secondary to environmental stressors (i.e. heat exhaustion/stroke; frostbite; hypothermia; barotrauma; nitrogen narcosis; cerebral oedema; pulmonary oedema)
- LO6. estimate environmental limits at which different populations can safely perform various work activities
- LO7. estimate maximum safe exposure times for work activities that take place under environmental conditions that exceed these limits.
Unit availability
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Modes of attendance (MoA)
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