Shock Factor: Effects of Surprise on Cardiovascular Responses.

Participants will participate in one visit to our research facility for 60-90 minutes. During this visit, the following will occur:

General overview

1. You will be considered for participation if you respond to the recruitment email from your organization, with an email to indicate interest in participation.
2. You will be sent an initial email asking if you would be willing to receive 4 files related to the study: They are Screening Questionnaire; Subject Information Form, Get Active Questionnaire; and Informed Consent.
3. If you respond positively to the second email you will be scheduled to appear at the research facility for an experimental trial.
4. Once you have arrived at the facility you will be asked to sign this Informed Consent Form if you have not already submitted it via email.
5. You will be asked if you voluntarily agree to be video recorded for the creation of educational videos for public use. If you do agree, you will be asked to sign a separate Audio-Video Release.
6. A pre-trial interview will be conducted, and responses will be manually recorded on paper.
7. You will then put on a special shirt (Hexoskin Shirt) over your swimsuit. This suit measures heart rate and breathing (indicated by the expansion of your chest).
8. You will then put on a climbing harness.
9. You will then complete 4 surprise events (see below in the Surprise Events section).
10. A post-trial interview will be conducted, and responses will be manually recorded.
11. You will change into your regular clothing and be free to leave the research facility.

Surprise Events

1. The first two events will involve wearing virtual reality (VR) goggles. The goggles will have visual presentations that coincide with the corresponding events that you are participating in. You will also wear a full climbing harness (including a chest harness) which is connected via climbing rope to a self-ratcheting lifeline that is firmly anchored to an overhead beam. The lifeline is commonly used to provide fall protection for workers at height; when the wearer falls, you will be slowly lowered to the ground. With this configuration, when you quickly rotate sideways or fall forward, you will experience the initial surprise motion, but your fall will be arrested by the lifeline. As an added safety measure, a gymnastics mat will be placed on the floor.