A physiological body-cooling unit for treatment of heat stroke

Abstract

The high incidence of heat stroke during the Mecca pilgrimage in hot weather prompted the development of a new method of rapidly cooling hyperpyrexial patients. A cooling bed was devised which achieved a high rate of evaporative cooling by spraying patients with water at 15 degrees C and warm air, which reached the body surface at 30-35 degrees C. The cooling bed also made possible the administration of ancillary treatment both efficiently and hygienically.