Iced slush and cold-water immersion are effective at rapidly reducing core temperatures of urban firefighters following emergency response. — ASN Events
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Iced slush and cold-water immersion are effective at rapidly reducing core temperatures of urban firefighters following emergency response. (#136)

Anthony Walker 1 2 , Matthew Driller 3 , Matt Brearley 4 , Christos Argus 5 , Ben Rattray 1
  1. UC National Institute of Sport Studies, University of Canberra, Canberra, Australia
  2. ACT Fire & Rescue, Canberra, ACT, Australia
  3. Department of Sport and Leisure Studies, University of Waikato, Tauranga, New Zealand
  4. National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, Darwin, NT, Australia
  5. Department of Physiology, Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra, Australia

Rapidly cooling the core temperature of firefighters following responses in the heat is crucial in maintaining the operational capability of emergency services. High core temperatures increase fatigue, likely leading to an inability to safely complete work tasks in the heat. It is therefore important that emergency services employ effective post-incident cooling practices that rapidly reduce the core temperatures of workers to allow them to complete subsequent emergency tasks.
The current study involved 74 firefighters and compared iced slush ingestion (SLUSH) (7 g.kg.BW-1) and cold-water immersion (CWI) (15 °C) to the current recovery practice involving only drinking water and seated rest in the shade (19.7 ± 2.3 °C) following a simulated firefighting task in a heated chamber (105 ± 5 °C). Informed written consent was obtained from all participants prior to undertaking testing based on protocols approved by the University of Canberra Human Ethics Research Committee. The work task consisted of two 20-minute search periods separated by a 10-minute intermediate rest followed by a 15-minute cooling period.
Core temperatures were measured using ingestible thermometers (HQ Inc), and rose from 37.5 ± 0.4 °C to 38.9 ± 0.5 °C at the end of the work period. At the conclusion of the 15 minute cooling period, core temperatures were reduced by 1.3 °C in the iced slush group and 1.4 °C and the CWI group, respectively. However, the passive group demonstrated a drop in core temperature of just 0.8 °C which leaves firefighters in excess of ISO and NFPA standards for safe entry to fire scenes (38.0 °C).
Rapidly cooling firefighters allows for them to safely re-enter scenes or be redeployed in a physical state that will likely increase their effectiveness and safety. In order to maintain effective emergency response during long duration events including natural disasters, emergency services need to minimise fatigue in workers. The cooling methods validated in this study, and widely used in athletic populations, can be easily employed to achieve the goal of sustained emergency response.