By Cindy Krischer Goodman
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. 鈥� Deanna Young, 31, lowers herself into a 100-gallon tub filled with ice water at her Delray Beach gym. After 45 minutes of cardio and strength exercises in the intense Florida heat, she wants to cool off fast.
Submerging into the frigid water, her body instantly feels a cold jolt, but then relaxes as she concentrates on the therapeutic benefits.
鈥淚t takes a lot of the inflammation away,鈥� she said. 鈥� It鈥檚 so energizing. When I get out of the tub I feel like a million bucks.鈥�
Whether for wellness or emergency response, ice immersion has become a go-to for improving health as the heat index soars to record highs in Florida. Throughout the state, firefighters carry giant plastic, ice-filled bags to quickly cool people suffering from heat stroke; high schools equip athletic trainers with ice tubs and polar pods to treat student-athletes suffering heat exhaustion; the Army rolls out its arm ice immersion and ice sheeting techniques to cool down heat victims fast; and spas and gyms offer ice baths to restore and rejuvenate after heat exposures.
鈥淚ce will lower your temperature rapidly,鈥� said Rob Simonelli, director ofin Delray Beach, which has been offering ice baths for about two years. 鈥淚t has a lot of recovery benefits.鈥�
Simonelli鈥檚 gym offers a workout experience called 鈥淔ire & Ice鈥� that begins with a 45-minute outdoor workout underneath the South Florida sun and ends with a therapeutic soak in a tank filled with 100 pounds of ice water. Each week, as many as 40 people take an ice bath, and Slash goes through about 500 pounds of ice daily to refill the tubs. Anyone who goes in must shower first 鈥� and get medical clearance. He urges his bathers to ease in slowly, building up to about five minutes.
鈥淥nce you learn how to tolerate the cold temperature, there are benefits to the body,鈥� Simonelli said. However, he acknowledges that anyone taking the plunge needs to be cautious: Prolonged cold exposure can increase your risk of hypothermia.
In Wellington, several spas target equestrians and athletes, touting the anti-inflammatory benefits of ice baths, relief from muscle pain, along with heightened mental clarity and energizing effects. In Fort Lauderdale, wellness centers advertise yoga or sauna sessions followed by an ice bath to stimulate circulation.
Ice cocoons to the rescue in emergencies
Overheating is one of the most common and most serious dangers in Florida, and this summer is setting new record highs in temperature and humidity, and multiple heat advisories. Emergency medical responders are turning to ice baths to quickly cool overheated Floridians.
鈥淲e have to recognize that we have heat emergencies in Florida,鈥� said an emergency medicine physician on Florida鈥檚 west coast. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just the temperature. It鈥檚 also what someone is wearing, their activities, their health conditions, the medications they are taking that affect their ability to compensate with heat.鈥�
Marathon runners, outdoor workers and even pickleball players are susceptible to heat strokes, as is anyone who overexerts themselves in scorching temperatures without enough hydration.
Abo has led efforts in Miami Beach, Naples, Bonita Springs, Sanibel and Gainesville to instruct and equip first responders to place patients suffering from heat-related illnesses in zippered bags that engulf the body, then pack them with ice cubes and water, until the body cools to safe levels. 鈥淲hen their core body temperatures come down, we take them out of the bag and do passive cooling instead of active,鈥� Abo said.
This type of ice immersion has saved several dozen lives in Florida, he said. The full-body ice immersion bags are being routinely deployed in emergency rooms and on ambulance calls. When emergency responders get the 911 call, they fill the bags with water and ice before heading out. Five minutes in a full-body bag can lower core body temperature by as much as 1 degree Fahrenheit. 鈥淥ne degree of internal cooling makes a significant difference,鈥� Abo said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 important to recognize heat stroke can happen,鈥� Abo said. 鈥淲e have to figure out how to decrease the rate of what鈥檚 happening, and when it happens know how to handle it.鈥�
In most cities in Broward County, emergency responders mist patients with water and fan their bodies to cool them, then rush the patients to a nearby hospital. More recent guidance has taught responders to put ice or cold water on a patient鈥檚 major arteries in the groin, neck and other areas. , medical director for the Broward Sheriff鈥檚 Office, said he is watching activity in other parts of the state and considering putting the body cooling bags on all ambulnces.
鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a promising treatment, and we want to look to see how we can implement that into our systems in Broward County,鈥� Roach said.
Cramps? Exhaustion? Student-athletes may turn to ice baths
In Broward and parts of Palm Beach counties, high schools use ice baths to prevent student-athletes with cramps and heat exhaustion from getting heat stroke.
Raphaella Albites, program manager for U18 sports medicine with Joe DiMaggio Children鈥檚 Hospital, said schools have coolers of ice water at athletic practices, and most have 300-gallon tubs for immersion if needed. The trainers typically place the tubs near the field, ready to be filled in an emergency or to help athletes rejuvenate tired muscles.
鈥淚n Broward, we also use polar pods, kind of like a sleeping bag,鈥� Albites said. 鈥淲e put the kid in it, add ice water and zip it up. It will lower the body temperature quickly. Sometimes we will do it precautionary if someone has bad cramps, is dizzy, has headaches, or is nauseous.鈥�
Albites said the gold standard to prevent heat stroke is a Polar Life Pod, but schools also use a tarp and cold water. 鈥淚t cools the body relatively quickly and allows the body to reset,鈥� she said.
The longer a person鈥檚 body temperature is elevated, the more likely he or she will face organ damage or other health issues. 鈥淭hat is what we are trying to prevent,鈥� Albites said.
At U.S. Army bases, firefighting training centers and college athletic departments, another technique involving ice has become a fast cool-down solution. All it takes is a bucket of ice water to submerge the forearms and biceps 鈥� basically the arm from the elbow down.
鈥淭his is when the body temperature is elevated and they are not a heat casualty yet, but just resting isn鈥檛 enough,鈥� said Lt. Col. Dave DeGroot, who runs the in Georgia. DeGroot says the arm is easily accessible and doesn鈥檛 weigh a lot. It can easily be dunked in the ice bucket.
The Army has used this method at its training facilities to bring its soldiers鈥� core temperatures down and suggests it for anyone overcome by heat.
But if someone shows signs of an altered mental state, a different method should be used while waiting for an EMT to arrive, DeGroot said. The method is ice sheets, which are bed linens dunked in ice water and wrapped around the body. 鈥淲hile it doesn鈥檛 work as fast as full body ice water immersion, you can avoid someone dying from heat stroke,鈥� he said.
With heat advisories almost daily this summer, the most important way to avoid a heat casualty is to use ice or ice water and get someone cooled off fast, DeGroot said. 鈥淚t could be life-saving.鈥�
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