by As Extreme heat continues to attack large parts of the countryCities like Phoenix turn to an unlikely – and remarkably effective – life -saving tool: ice cream bag.
Phoenix is No stranger to the fatal effects of high temperatures. In fact, warmth there kills more people than murders every year. The Phoenix fire brigade is now pursuing a low-tech approach, in which a national example of combating heat-related diseases is determined: cold water immersion.
Firefighter Colin Kennedy is too familiar with the dangers that assume relentless heat.
“At the moment we are going to a 50s woman outside of a dollar business,” said Kennedy in a recent call. “So it’s 105, 106 degrees. The sidewalk is hot.”
When firefighters found the woman, she suffered a stroke on a scorching sidewalk. If your core temperature had reached 104 degrees or higher, the team would have placed it in a large blue plastic bag and filled it with ice water – a new emergency protocol that quickly cooled down the heat stroke on the way to the hospital.
“We have a bag and we have ice cream and we save life with it,” said captain Dave Kirk from the Phoenix fire brigade.
Originally developed by the militaryThe immersion of cold water has determined its place in the urban emergency reaction because climate change reinforces heat waves across the country. According to Climate Central, Phoenix is now experiencing 39 more hot summer days than in 1970, and dangerous heat strips lasting several days are becoming increasingly common nationwide.
Traditional methods for the treatment of heat troke – e.g. B. Ice bags on the neck and the groin area or the administration of cold IV fluids – are no longer sufficient. Captain Kirk says that the effectiveness of the ice insurer is “day and night”.
This method can cool down patients three to five times faster than older techniques – a critical difference that can prevent brain damage and organ failure.
In the hottest city in the country, every Phoenix fire station now sets up ice cream – just like a petrol station.
“We have eight bags with seven pounds inside, essentially a large garbage bag, and this bag will come out and she will come to the call with us,” said Kennedy.
The method already proves its value. Last year, the firefighters in Phoenix used more than 300 times ice immersion during an experimental time. Although in 2024 one of the hottest summer was in Phoenix, heat -related deaths actually fell. This summer you have expanded your efforts by having ice at popular starting points in stock to cool pre -conscious hikers on site.
“We see that people from 108, 109, 110 core body temperatures go to 101 or 100 degrees, even when they arrive in the hospital,” said Kennedy.
In the Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix, Dr. Geoff Compare for several years medical teams in this cold water protocol.
“It’s quick. The thermal conductivity of water is so much faster than air,” said Compr when asked why the immersion of the full body is so effective.
He emphasized that the cooling of patients before they arrive for emergency room makes the difference.
“If we are able to shorten the time the patient is affected by this higher temperature, it gets better. In this way we reduce mortality … We save people’s lives,” he said.
In view of the intensified heat waves, Phoenix ‘Ice Bag Tactic in the fight against Hitzestroke develops as a critical and surprisingly simple weapon.
This story was produced in cooperation with Climate Central.
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