The Scottsdale Fire Department is following Phoenix’s lead in adopting a new protocol for the most critical heat-related emergencies. The departments are now using ice-filled body bags to rapidly cool people experiencing heat stroke.
The Phoenix Fire Department adopted the new protocol last year. Whenever a patient has a body temperature above 104 degrees and is so overheated that their mental state is altered, crews will put the patient into a water-tight body bag and fill it chest-high with ice while the patient is transported to a hospital.
The Phoenix Fire Department has used the treatment in more than 450 heat-related emergencies since spring of 2024.
“We’ve had patients that are at 107 degrees for their core body temperatures and when we transfer care to the hospital they’ve been at 102 and answering all of our questions appropriately,” said Phoenix Fire Captain Todd Keller.
Keller said the method appears to be increasing patients’ chances of surviving heat stroke.
“It’s tremendous. It cools these patients three to five times faster than our traditional methods,” Keller said.
Medical experts say that timing is critical for heat stroke patients.
“If your brain is very hot for more than a couple minutes, it could lead to permanent brain damage,” said Dr. Frank LoVecchio with the emergency department at Valleywise Health. “That is why the most important thing is for us to cool people rapidly when we can.”
This year, Phoenix even installed large freezers at some popular trailheads in the city so that fire crews have ice at-the-ready when they are called to rescue overheated hikers.
During these mountain rescues, Scottsdale Fire Department crews have had the chance to observe Phoenix crews putting the ice immersion bags to use, said Scottsdale Fire Captain Dave Folio.
Folio noted one recent case where the two departments were responding to a call about a Camelback Mountain hiker who had a temperature of 107 — the Phoenix Fire Department put her in an ice immersion bag.
“The lady ended up surviving without any deficits,” Folio said. “So that was really important to us, so our medical director reviewed all that documentation from the hospital and we implemented it in our fire department.”
Folio said the Scottsdale Fire Department began researching the ice immersion bag treatment about six months ago and started training crews to use the bags in August. As of this month, he said, it is now the official protocol for heat emergencies in Scottsdale.
Folio said Scottsdale Fire regularly receives emergency calls for overheated hikers, construction workers and unsheltered people, so he expects the bags will be used frequently.
“We take it pretty seriously, and this is just another tool in our toolbox we can pull out if you’re having a heat stroke emergency,” Folio said.
In addition to the Phoenix and Scottsdale Fire Departments, multiple hospital emergency departments in the Valley, including at Valleywise Health and Dignity Health, have adopted similar methods for rapidly cooling patients with ice immersion.
Most other Valley fire departments are not using the method. A spokesperson for the Gilbert Fire and Rescue Department said its crews have received training to use ice immersion bags, but the bags are not part of the department’s standard protocol.
LoVecchio said he thinks patient outcomes have improved since Phoenix began using the bags.
“Phoenix Fire is doing a great job with regard to cooling patients pre-hospital. What they do is hero-worthy” LoVecchio said.
Last year, 608 people in the Valley died from heat-related causes. So far this summer, 97 heat-related deaths are confirmed and 406 are under investigation. Those numbers are about 18% lower than at the same point last year.
Keller said he is confident the ice immersion bags have been a factor in preventing this year’s death toll from climbing higher.
“It’s life-changing and it’s lifesaving,” Keller said.
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