Supporting Clinical Trial Data
Two clinical trials demonstrate that current EMS solutions do not treat prehospital hypothermia. The clinical trials prove that actively providing heat with external patient heating technology effectively increases patients' core temperature.
Clinical Trial Data
Patients who received hot pack rewarming showed a mean increase in body temperature during transport (+1.36°F/0.74°C), while all other groups (no intervention, passive rewarming, reflective blankets, warmed IV fluids, warmed IV fluid plus reflective blanket) showed a mean decrease in temperature during transport [ -0.34 to -0.61°F (-0.2 to -0.4°C); p < 0.011 ... there were differences according to initial resuscitation bay temperature, with lower temperatures correlating with longer ICU and hospital stays (ICU LOS, r = -0.25, p = 0.003; total LOS, r = -0.21, p = 0.023)
From the time of rescue until arrival at the hospital, mean core temperature decreased 0.4°C/h (95% CI, 0.3°C/h- 0.5°C/h) with passive warming [blankets], whereas it increased 0.8°C/h (95% CI, 0.7°C/h-0.9°C/h) with [active external heating].