Garment for cooling an individual wearing personal protective equipment

An assembly comprising:

• a radioprotective personal protective equipment wearable at an individual's torso, and
• a garment for cooling the individual, the garment comprising:
• a belt-like portion configured to engage and/or maintain the garment engaged to a portion, in particular to a lumbar and/or abdominal portion, of the torso of the individual,
• at least one engagement portion capable of engaging at least at an upper torso portion of the individual, in particular at least at, at least one shoulder and/or chest and/or back of the individual, wherein the at least one engagement portion comprises a first elongated suspender and a second elongated suspender each of which is capable of engaging, under operating conditions of the garment, at least at a respective shoulder of the individual wearing the garment, the first suspender and the second suspender forming a space between them, the first and second elongated suspenders being connected or configured to be connected to the belt-like portion,
• an air movement device configured to move air, under operating conditions of the garment, in the direction of the torso of the individual wearing the garment and/or away from the torso of the individual wearing the garment, the air movement device having air inlet openings and air distribution openings, the air distribution openings being oriented to distribute air directly in a direction parallel with a longitudinal axis of the first and second suspenders so that air is distributed in the space between the first and second suspenders, between the individual's torso and the personal protective equipment, when the personal protective equipment is worn by the individual.

A method for cooling an individual comprising the steps of:

• providing a garment comprising:
• a belt-like portion configured to engage and/or maintain the garment engaged to a portion, in particular to a lumbar and/or abdominal portion, of the torso of the individual,
• at least one engagement portion capable of engaging at least at an upper torso portion of the individual, in particular at least at, at least one shoulder and/or chest and/or back of the individual, wherein the at least one engagement portion comprise a first elongated suspender and a second elongated suspender each of which is capable of engaging, under operating conditions of the garment, at least at a respective shoulder of the individual wearing the garment, the first suspender and the second suspender forming a space between them, the first and second elongated suspenders being connected or configured to be connected to the belt-like portion,
• an air movement device configured to move air, under operating conditions of the garment, in the direction of the torso of the individual wearing the garment and/or away from the torso of the individual wearing the garment, the air movement device having air inlet openings and air distribution openings, the air distribution openings being oriented to distribute air directly in a direction parallel with a longitudinal axis of the first and second suspenders,
• wearing the garment by the individual below a personal protective equipment also worn by the individual so as to be interposed between the torso of the individual and the personal protective equipment,
• ensuring that air is distributed in the space between the first and second suspenders, between the individual's torso and the personal protective equipment.