BRPD officer swallows thermometer pill to help in body armor study

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - Officers in South Louisiana wear body armor, but with the heat, the temperatures can sometimes be overwhelming. When it is hot outside, officers may not wear the armor, putting their lives at risk.

A pill developed for NASA is now helping in a study to see how wearing body armor affects an officer's core body temperature.

Researchers say the pill was developed by a company called Coretemp. The encapsulated thermometer, once swallowed, will stay in your system and will pass like any food that you eat. John Glenn, the first American astronaut to orbit Earth, was the first person to use the pill.

The encapsulated thermometer transmits temperature recordings to a device every 10 seconds during a 10-hour shift. The information will be sent to the National Institute of Justice who can work with the body armor manufacturers to create lighter, cooler, more comfortable armor.

One officer with the Baton Rouge Police Department volunteered to take the pill to help in the study.

The officer swallowed the pill, put his vest on, and went to work.

"Body armor has gotten better over the years, but still is not the most comfortable thing. Particularly in this kind of heat and humidity. Law Enforcement officers would rather have something more comfortable," said researcher Doug Kleiner, Ph.D.

The study has been going on for about three years.

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