A new helmet containing a recording device may help volunteer firefighters deal with traumatic events, a Queensland University of Technology (QUT) student designer says.

Postgraduate industrial design student David Prickett has designed a helmet to be worn by volunteer firefighters, which could record audiovisual material from a fire situation, as well as heat and smoke levels, and the volunteer's stress levels.

David, from Albany Creek, said the information from the recording was intended for use by psychologists who were called in to debrief with volunteers when they experienced trauma in the field.

"Psychologists can download the recording and have a real understanding of what their client has been through before they conduct a debriefing," David said.

"Hopefully it would help people who, for whatever reason, find it difficult to talk about what they've been through.

"The debriefing process could be a bit quicker because psychologists would spend less time in sessions going through what happened."

David said firefighters would turn the helmet on when they put it on their head and recording was triggered when the device registered that the wearer was getting stressed.

"The device records for five minutes and then stops if the stress has passed. If the firefighter is still stressed, it keeps recording," the Graduate Diploma in Industrial Design student said.

"It would measure smoke and heat levels, record the sounds around and record stress levels with a chip that gauges chemical levels in skin.

"If firefighters did not want the event recorded, they could simply turn the device off."

David said he was inspired to create the helmet when he learned volunteer firefighter numbers were at a record low.

"I've always been fascinated with people who put extra time, on top of their paid work, to do something so physically and emotionally strenuous," he said.

"I don't think they get enough recognition for the effort they put it and the demands that are made on their family ... they put a lot on the line."