Jul 23, 2021
As a deadly heat wave scorched the Pacific Northwest last month, overwhelming hospital emergency rooms in a region unaccustomed to triple-digit temperatures, doctors resorted to a grim but practical tool to save lives: human body bags filled with ice and water.
Officials at hospitals in Seattle and Renton, Washington, said that as more people arrived experiencing potentially fatal heatstroke, and with cooling catheters and even ice packs in short supply, they used the novel treatment to quickly immerse and cool several elderly people.
Zipping heatstroke patients into ice-filled body bags worked so well it could become a go-to treatment in a world increasingly altered by climate change, said Dr. Alex St. John, an emergency physician at UW Medicine’s Harborview Medical Center.
As extreme heat becomes more common, ERs turn to body bags to save lives
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A chilling cure: Facing killer heat, ERs use body bags to save lives
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Tips to Avoid Heat Illness Amid Record U.S. Heatwave By Naomi Shammash
July 15, 2021 – Hundreds of Americans have died of heat-related illnesses in the latest country-wide heat wave, and this week’s forecast also brings temperatures back into the triple digits for millions. At thermometers rise to historic levels, many are at risk, from young children attending camps to the elderly seeking shelter from the heat.
Heat-related illnesses can mean heat exhaustion or heatstroke, the latter of which is more serious and potentially life-threatening. Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat illness that can happen after a person is exposed to high temperatures without drinking enough water. Heatstroke occurs when the body’s internal temperature reaches 104 F, or 40 C. Heatstroke can cause seizures or comas, and if left untreated, it can lead to heart attacks and death. (Learn more about heatstroke here.)