Firefighters’ Expertise in Locating Sounds

Background: Firefighters search for survivors in low-visibility environments and have documented expertise in spatial orientation and wayfinding. No studies so far have investigated their ability to make use of auditory spatial cues. Methods: The performance of 41 professional firefighters and 24 control subjects to localise sounds played in a dark environment at 9 azimuthal positions was assessed using (i) meaningless single sounds and (ii) meaningful sounds presented with two simultaneous distractors. Localisation errors were analysed with a 3-way ANOVA Task × Position × Group. Results: The analysis yielded significant main effects of Task, Position and Group. The localisation errors tended to be smaller when localising meaningless single sounds (main effect Task), for items presented at central as compared to peripheral positions (main effect Position), and by firefighters rather than controls (main effect Group). The interactions Position × Group and Task × Position were significant; firefighters performed more accurately at peripheral positions than controls, and meaningless single sounds yielded fewer localisation errors at the periphery than meaningful sounds presented with distractors. Conclusions: Professional firefighters perform better than controls at explicit localisation of sounds, including in conditions where sound objects need to be segregated from distractors by spatial cues. These results suggest that firefighters have acquired expertise in the explicit and implicit use of auditory spatial cues. The proficiency of firefighters needs to be taken into consideration when planning and carrying out interventions.