Effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study
Background: The ambulance milieu does not offer good thermal comfort to patients during the cold Swedish winters. Patients’ exposure to cold temperatures combined with a cold ambulance mattress seems to be the major factor leading to an overall sensation of discomfort. There is little research on th...
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Taylor & Francis Group
2015
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:2c99be5733b54ba3b160e5380a6008d6 2023-05-15T15:12:50+02:00 Effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study Jonas Aléx Stig Karlsson Ulf Björnstig Britt-Inger Saveman 2015-09-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.28878 https://doaj.org/article/2c99be5733b54ba3b160e5380a6008d6 EN eng Taylor & Francis Group http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/view/28878/pdf_42 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 2242-3982 doi:10.3402/ijch.v74.28878 https://doaj.org/article/2c99be5733b54ba3b160e5380a6008d6 International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 74, Iss 0, Pp 1-6 (2015) thermal comfort thermal discomfort finger temperature cold exposure Cold Discomfort Scale cold stress active heat heat transfer Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 article 2015 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.28878 2022-12-31T13:59:11Z Background: The ambulance milieu does not offer good thermal comfort to patients during the cold Swedish winters. Patients’ exposure to cold temperatures combined with a cold ambulance mattress seems to be the major factor leading to an overall sensation of discomfort. There is little research on the effect of active heat delivered from underneath in ambulance care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an electrically heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in the prehospital emergency care. Methods: A quantitative intervention study on ambulance care was conducted in the north of Sweden. The ambulance used for the intervention group (n=30) was equipped with an electrically heated mattress on the regular ambulance stretcher whereas for the control group (n=30) no active heat was provided on the stretcher. Outcome variables were measured as thermal comfort on the Cold Discomfort Scale (CDS), subjective comments on cold experiences, and finger, ear and air temperatures. Results: Thermal comfort, measured by CDS, improved during the ambulance transport to the emergency department in the intervention group (p=0.001) but decreased in the control group (p=0.014). A significant higher proportion (57%) of the control group rated the stretcher as cold to lie down compared to the intervention group (3%, p<0.001). At arrival, finger, ear and compartment air temperature showed no statistical significant difference between groups. Mean transport time was approximately 15 minutes. Conclusions: The use of active heat from underneath increases the patients’ thermal comfort and may prevent the negative consequences of cold stress. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic International Journal of Circumpolar Health 74 1 28878 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
thermal comfort thermal discomfort finger temperature cold exposure Cold Discomfort Scale cold stress active heat heat transfer Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
spellingShingle |
thermal comfort thermal discomfort finger temperature cold exposure Cold Discomfort Scale cold stress active heat heat transfer Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Jonas Aléx Stig Karlsson Ulf Björnstig Britt-Inger Saveman Effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study |
topic_facet |
thermal comfort thermal discomfort finger temperature cold exposure Cold Discomfort Scale cold stress active heat heat transfer Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 |
description |
Background: The ambulance milieu does not offer good thermal comfort to patients during the cold Swedish winters. Patients’ exposure to cold temperatures combined with a cold ambulance mattress seems to be the major factor leading to an overall sensation of discomfort. There is little research on the effect of active heat delivered from underneath in ambulance care. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an electrically heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in the prehospital emergency care. Methods: A quantitative intervention study on ambulance care was conducted in the north of Sweden. The ambulance used for the intervention group (n=30) was equipped with an electrically heated mattress on the regular ambulance stretcher whereas for the control group (n=30) no active heat was provided on the stretcher. Outcome variables were measured as thermal comfort on the Cold Discomfort Scale (CDS), subjective comments on cold experiences, and finger, ear and air temperatures. Results: Thermal comfort, measured by CDS, improved during the ambulance transport to the emergency department in the intervention group (p=0.001) but decreased in the control group (p=0.014). A significant higher proportion (57%) of the control group rated the stretcher as cold to lie down compared to the intervention group (3%, p<0.001). At arrival, finger, ear and compartment air temperature showed no statistical significant difference between groups. Mean transport time was approximately 15 minutes. Conclusions: The use of active heat from underneath increases the patients’ thermal comfort and may prevent the negative consequences of cold stress. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Jonas Aléx Stig Karlsson Ulf Björnstig Britt-Inger Saveman |
author_facet |
Jonas Aléx Stig Karlsson Ulf Björnstig Britt-Inger Saveman |
author_sort |
Jonas Aléx |
title |
Effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study |
title_short |
Effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study |
title_full |
Effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study |
title_fullStr |
Effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study |
title_full_unstemmed |
Effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study |
title_sort |
effect evaluation of a heated ambulance mattress-prototype on thermal comfort and patients’ temperatures in prehospital emergency care – an intervention study |
publisher |
Taylor & Francis Group |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.28878 https://doaj.org/article/2c99be5733b54ba3b160e5380a6008d6 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
genre_facet |
Arctic Circumpolar Health International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
op_source |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Vol 74, Iss 0, Pp 1-6 (2015) |
op_relation |
http://www.circumpolarhealthjournal.net/index.php/ijch/article/view/28878/pdf_42 https://doaj.org/toc/2242-3982 2242-3982 doi:10.3402/ijch.v74.28878 https://doaj.org/article/2c99be5733b54ba3b160e5380a6008d6 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.3402/ijch.v74.28878 |
container_title |
International Journal of Circumpolar Health |
container_volume |
74 |
container_issue |
1 |
container_start_page |
28878 |
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1766343476347142144 |