This American city is using ice immersion to treat heat stroke victims

In the United States (US), theSouthwest region has been hit with the season's first heatwave. Firefighters in Phoenix- which is among the hottest cities in the country- are immersingheatstroke victims in ice on the way to hospitals. In 2023, there were645 heat-related deaths in Arizona's Maricopa County which also includes Phoenix.

Speaking to the news agency Associated Press on Wednesday (June 5), Fire Captain John Prato from the Phoenix Fire Department said that the medical technique,known as cold water immersion, is familiar to marathon runners and military service members and has also recently been adopted by Phoenix hospitals as a go-to protocol.

A dramatic fall in body temperature in minutes

Earlier this week, Fire Captain Prato demonstrated the method outside the emergency department of Valleywise Health Medical Center, packing ice cubes inside an impermeable blue bag around a medical dummy representing a patient.

Prato said that this technique could dramatically lower body temperature in minutes.

"Just last week we had a critical patient that we were able to bring back before we walked through the emergency room doors.That’s our goal — to improve patient survivability," he added.

The Associated Press reported that theheatstroke treatment has made ice and human-sized immersion bags standard equipment on all fire department emergency vehicles in the city.

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For the first time, Phoenix is also keeping two cooling stations open overnight this summer.

Excessive heat warnings issued

Authorities issued excessive heat warningsfor Wednesday morning through Friday evening for parts of southern Nevada and Arizona, with temperatures expected to top43.3 Celsius in Las Vegas and Phoenix.

The unseasonably hot weather was expected to spread northward and make its way into parts of the Pacific Northwest by the weekend.

(With inputs from agencies)