The first heat wave of the season is already heating up the Southwest with temperatures over 100 degrees, as firefighters in Phoenix, known as America’s hottest big city, are using new methods to try to save more lives in a county that had 645 heat-related deaths last year.
This season, the Phoenix Fire Department is using ice baths to cool down people suffering from heatstroke on their way to local hospitals.
This medical technique, called cold-water immersion, is well-known among marathon runners and military members and has recently been adopted by Phoenix hospitals as a standard procedure, according to Fire Capt. John Prato.
Emergency crews are employing this method earlier than usual as the intense heat has arrived sooner than expected across much of the region.
John Prato demonstrates a new protocol (Via Jim Moore/Getty Images)
On Wednesday, temperatures reached 108 degrees Fahrenheit (42.2 degrees Celsius) in Phoenix and Las Vegas, with record highs expected to exceed 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius) in both cities on Thursday.
Earlier this week, Prato demonstrated this potentially life-saving technique outside the emergency department of Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix. He packed ice cubes in a sealed blue bag around a medical dummy representing a patient, explaining that this method could rapidly reduce body temperature.
“We recently had a critical patient that we successfully stabilized even before reaching the emergency room,” Prato said. “Our aim is to increase the chances of patients surviving.”
