Abstract
Objective
Hypothermia secondary to environmental exposure is a serious condition. Active external
warming measures to treat it may prove challenging in the prehospital setting. We
conducted an experimental study to measure the ability of commercially available heating
elements to warm intravenous (IV) fluids during infusion.
Methods
250-milliliter bags of dextrose 10% solution were suspended inside a refrigerator.
IV tubing was coiled, and the tubing output was placed inside a thermally insulated
cup. The tubing was heated directly with a hand warmer, a meals ready-to-eat heater,
or a heating blanket. Fluids were run through the IV line. The temperature of the
fluid at the tubing output was measured. The initial and final infusion temperatures
for the methods were compared.
Results
The use of hand warmers, meals ready-to-eat heaters, and heating blankets to warm
IV tubing did increase the temperature of the fluids but was ineffective at achieving
the desired mean infusion temperature of 35°C to 42°C.
Conclusion
Although the mean temperature increase did not meet the established experimental threshold,
further research is needed to determine whether the fluid warming effect of these
commercial heating elements used in the prehospital environment is significant enough
to limit heat loss while repleting the dextrose of a hypothermic, hypoglycemic patient.
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: December 09, 2020
Footnotes
Supported by the University of California Irvine Emergency Department. The refrigerator was provided by Dr. Shannon Toohey. The remaining materials were purchased using the University of California Irvine Emergency Department funds for academic research.
The authors thank the University of California Irvine Emergency Department.
Identification
Copyright
© 2020 Air Medical Journal Associates. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
