PHOENIX — The intense heat is especially tough for first responders who are responding to a higher number of heat-related emergencies this year.
ABC15 spoke with the Phoenix Fire Department who says they have one simple goal: keeping everyone safe. And to do that, they're turning to some tools that may seem simple, but could really be the difference between life and death.
"118º is hard to get used to no matter how many times you've gone through the summer," said Phoenix Fire Captain Kimberly Ragsdale.
Captain Ragsdale says, although we typically see hot summers in the Valley, there's definitely something different about our current heat wave.
"We have hot summers each year, but this one is a bit more exceptional," she explained. "It's a longer duration of the triple-digit heat numbers."
In fact, Phoenix has experienced nearly a month straight of temperatures at or above 110º — the highest number of consecutive days the Valley has experienced — and we are seeing the human toll.
Phoenix Fire tells ABC15 that heat-related emergency calls are up about 20% over the time last year, and the summer isn't over yet and neither is the threat.
This means Captain Ragsdale and the rest of her department have to be ready at a moment's notice. She says treating patients with body temperatures of up to 108º is not unheard of. In fact, knowing someone's body temperature is one of the first steps to figuring out the best way to treat them.
"We are seeing a lot of individuals with heat stroke or any sort of heat-related emergency... we are going to take their (temperature) and that determines our level of treatment," she said.
One tool first responders have is something called a "carry all," which is basically a fabric bed that a patient can be carried in. It can also be used to create a makeshift ice bath.
"We lay the patient in the carry-all and we have the ice-cold fluids that we use on our patients and our ice bath...It's a lot quicker way to cool the core temps instead of evaporative cooling so we can get somebody in this and cooled down way faster than just pouring water on them and fans and air conditioning" said Ragsdale.
But that isn't the only way Phoenix Fire is using the power of ice.
They also have IV fluid bags that have been chilled on ice, making them they're ready to go inside any person who may be over-heated where minutes matter.
What may seem like small steps taken by these fire crews before calls even come in may make a big difference in how these calls end.
"We are in the business of saving lives. This is the best way to cool someone down and get them the life-saving measures they need."
