The U.S. Army resorts to very simple and efficient solutions to avoid the danger of heat shock on scorching days. Anyone can use them.
Severe weather increasingly affects military operations, and heat is one of the meteorological manifestations that troops must adapt to. For soldiers equipped with uniforms and boots, it is very difficult to carry out their outdoor activities during heatwaves.
The U.S. Army has two very simple techniques through which soldiers can quickly cool off.
The first one requires a bucket, maybe even two, with ice-cold water. If poured over the head or body, the water would dissipate easily and could cause a heat shock. However, the U.S. Army uses an immersion table, a kind of long trough supported on a four-legged stand, in which cold water is poured and soldiers submerge their forearms for five minutes. Six to eight people can submerge their arms in the same water.
As simplistic as this solution may seem, what matters is how a small amount of water can be used to quickly cool off multiple people. "It's something low-tech, it's cheap, easy to implement. It's a bucket of water," said Lt. Col. Dave DeGroot, who leads the Army's Heat Center at Fort Moore, to CBS News.
Submerging for five minutes in very cold water can reduce the body temperature by up to half a degree Celsius. Considering that the normal body temperature ranges between 36.1 and 37.2 degrees Celsius, a half-degree drop in temperature can make a significant difference.
"A car has a radiator. Well, so do we. It's the skin. The blood cools (…) and after a few minutes of exposure (to cold water) the temperature drops," said DeGroot, who is involved in developing solutions for soldiers to cope with heat.
Immersion tables used by the army, firefighters, and NASA
The U.S. Army has 1,000 immersion tables across the country for arm submersion. Through a licensing agreement, immersion tables are also used in firefighter training centers, NASA launch centers, construction companies, and American college athletic departments.
Some immersion tables are even mounted in trucks so they can be quickly transported to remote parts of military bases.
Cold sheets, the best solution in case of heatstroke
Sometimes prevention is not enough, and heat becomes an emergency. In such cases, the U.S. Army uses another solution - cold sheets.
In severe cases of heatstroke, the body must be cooled on the spot before the victim is transported to the hospital, thus preventing medical complications caused by heat or even death. If a soldier has suffered heat shock due to heat, they are quickly wrapped in bed sheets cooled in ice water.
"We aim to cover as much of the body surface as possible," said Sergeant Elizabeth Meza Hernandez. "We continue and place the sheets in those hot spots where the body meets the head and limbs, so in the torso area, armpits, neck, and head," she added.
Fresh and cool sheets are changed every three minutes until an ambulance arrives. Hernandez said she has done this with at least ten patients.
DeGroot's research shows that wrapping in cold sheets is an effective emergency treatment. In 2019, before this technique was introduced at Fort Moore, there were 95 cases of heatstroke among the military base personnel. In 2022, after this technique began to be used, the number of heatstroke cases decreased to 35.
The most effective method of quickly cooling the body is, however, full immersion, where a person is put into a sack filled with ice.
However, in the army, this solution is not always possible. Additionally, DeGroot says that for saving a life, the two techniques used at Fort Moore are equally effective. "We don't have as rapid a cooling rate, but (…) we have just as good survival," he said.
T.D.