Link to Next Page Home Link Link to Previous Page Summary link Individual Protection Link Clearance Equipment Link Detection Equipment Link Table of Contents
Lower Extremities Assessment Program 

Pic of Boot

Objective
Provide data for an initial assessment of the effectiveness of mine protective footwear and to provide empirical data for the development of injury criteria.

Description
This project was a cooperative effort among the Institute of Surgical Research of Brooke Army Medical Center, the Aberdeen Test Center, Natick Research Labs, and NVESD. The thrust of the study was an evaluation of the standard combat boot (control) and various types and combinations of commercially available standard footwear and landmine protective footwear to ascertain their potential benefit in limb injury reduction. The footwear evaluated included the Wellco® Blast Boot, the Wellco® Over Boot, the Singapore BFR V-40 boot, the Med-Eng Spider Boot®, and an improvised sandal. A scoring system, the Mine Trauma Score (MTS), was devised to compare the severity of mine events under different test conditions. The effectiveness of the footwear was based on medical diagnostics of the injury patterns produced by the M-14, PMA-2, and PMN AP mines.

Contractor/Developer
U.S. Army CECOM Night Vision
and Electronic Sensors Directorate
10221 Burbeck Road, Ste 430
Fort Belvoir, VA 22060-5806
ATTN: Charles W. Chichester
Phone: (703) 704-1055
Fax: (703) 704-3001
Email:charles.chichester@nvl.army.mil

Performance
Thirty-one mines were tested against various combinations of the six types of footwear. The results of the study suggest the possibility of marginal improvement in the mine trauma score with the use of the overboot against the M-14, the smallest mine. Sufficient tests to reach meaningful conclusions were only conducted for the overboots in comparison to the standard combat boot.   On the basis of the limited tests conducted with the Wellco® Blast Boot  and the Singapore BFR V-40 boot, it was concluded that these boots were unlikely to offer any increased protection with respect to the standard combat boot.   The Med-Eng Spider Boot® was the only boot that showed promise against the medium and large size mines. From the tests, it appears that the spectrum of injury when wearing sandals approximates that of the combat boot. 
X-Ray of boot in blastwave X-rays of the initial blast wave.
The tests of all footwear against AP mines produced injury to the lower extremities.   Marginal improvement of commercial footwear to protect the foot/leg against landmine blasts may not be justified. Additional testing of this type is warranted.
pic of Boot
Singapore BFR V-40 boot.

Wellco Blast Boot
Wellco® Blast Boot

 Med Eng Spider Boot
Med-Eng Spider Boot®

 

Status 
The Lower Extremities Assessment Program report documents the effectiveness of the footwear based on medical diagnoses and treatment plans, the mechanism of injury and injury patterns associated with the different landmines tested, and the detailed medical report of injury patterns produced by AP mines as they elate to different levels of protection.  To request copies of this report, contact the U.S. Humanitarian Demining Program point of contact listed on page 65 of this catalog.  

Humanitarian Demining Developmental Technologies 2000 - 2001