Emergency cooling
Whatever you cover, from road races to festivals to fireworks displays and parades, exertional heat stroke affects the public you're responsible for. The Kollder tub deploys in under 2 minutes, by one person.
Kollder in the field
Exertional heat stroke (EHS) affects the public you're responsible for, whatever type of assignment it is. At a parade or a street festival, that's people on the move, sometimes for several hours, under continuous exertion in the heat. At a music festival or fireworks display, that's a dense crowd, often standing and largely stationary, exposed to heat for the full length of the event.
For a complete breakdown of the physiological mechanisms and warning signs, read our guide to exertional heat stroke and our guide on preparing first responder teams for more frequent extreme heat events.
The foundational rule validated by the ACSM and the International Olympic Committee applies from the moment of first contact on site: never transport an exertional heat stroke victim before cooling them. Cold water immersion remains, to date, the only method with a cooling rate that is clinically fast enough.
Whole-body cold water immersion cools at 0.35°C per minute, compared to roughly 0.03°C per minute for wet towels or ice packs. Source: Casa DJ et al., Exercise and Sport Sciences Reviews, 2007.
Across 401 exertional heat stroke cases treated with immediate cold water immersion, survival is 100% when core temperature drops below 40°C within 30 minutes. Source: Korey Stringer Institute, Douglas Casa, UConn.
OSHA's proposed heat injury and illness prevention standard is pushing US event organizers and staffing providers toward documented heat response equipment. France has already made this mandatory for standby medical teams under Décret n°2025-482.
At a festival, parade, or fireworks display, a tarp held by several volunteers and filled with water remains a common way to treat a victim in hyperthermia. It works, but it ties up several people just to hold the tarp, takes time to set up in a dense crowd, and limits access to the victim for monitoring.
Our comparison of cooling methods breaks down the performance gaps. For associations equipping multiple first aid posts, our comparison of market manufacturers is also available, along with an objective comparison with I-CWIK.
What isn't enough in the field
Cooling equipment intended for operational use has to meet precise requirements, regardless of brand. Kollder One™ and Kollder Go™ spec sheet below.
The equipment needs to be operational from the first warning signs, with no lengthy training and no extra volunteer tied up on deployment.
205 × 80 × 60 cm deployed. Stainless steel frame, SS304 stainless hinges (Ø6mm), 6 contact points with cross-bracing: it holds a victim steady on uneven ground or hot pavement, without shifting.
Hybrid transport bag, 85 × 10 × 10 cm folded, 11.1 kg, carried as a backpack, by hand, or rolled. Stows in any association vehicle or first aid post trailer, no special fit-out required.
Whole-body immersion with full access to the victim allows monitoring throughout cooling. The food-grade stainless steel structure cleans and disinfects quickly between patients.
Four types of event coverage where fast cooling equipment makes the difference for the public you're responsible for.
Runners in hyperthermia at the finish line or at aid stations: immediate on-site cooling, before transport, applies to any participant treated at your first aid post.
A dense crowd, often standing for hours in direct sun: first aid posts need to be able to treat heat stroke without waiting for transport to a hospital.
A stationary crowd, often late in the evening and packed into a limited space: heat accumulated over the day and crowd density raise the risk of collapse and hyperthermia.
National holidays, local celebrations, street parades: a crowd moving or dancing for hours under sustained heat, with an exertional heat stroke risk comparable to a sporting event.
The reference treatment, validated by the ACSM and the IOC, is whole-body cold water immersion started immediately on site, before any transport. This is the Cool First, Transport Second protocol: cooling takes priority over evacuation until the victim's core temperature drops below 38.6°C.
Immerse the victim in cold water up to the shoulders immediately and alert EMS in parallel. According to the Korey Stringer Institute, survival reaches 100% across more than 400 documented cases when core temperature drops below 40°C within 30 minutes of initial treatment.
An emergency cooling tub designed for operational use should be deployable by one person, with no tools, in under 2 minutes. This is a decisive requirement for a standby medical post, where the equipment needs to be operational from the moment the event opens.
Four criteria matter most: deployment speed for a single volunteer, portability inside an association vehicle or medical trailer, an easy-to-disinfect material such as food-grade stainless steel, and 360-degree patient access so volunteers can monitor the patient throughout immersion.
Yes, provided it is designed for field use: folded down into a compact, lightweight format, it stows in any association vehicle or medical trailer with no modification, then deploys directly on site.
Tell us what you need. We'll get back to you within 48 hours with a proposal sized to your coverage assignment.
The Kollder emergency cooling tub, in brief: