Emergency cooling
Exertional heat stroke calls for immediate cooling, well before hospital arrival. The Kollder tub fits both prehospital response and emergency department intake, and deploys in under 2 minutes.
Kollder in the field
Exertional heat stroke (EHS) puts pressure on emergency services at two distinct moments. First, in the prehospital setting: EMS crews often arrive before core temperature has started to fall. Second, at intake: emergency departments need to be able to handle a surge of patients during heat waves or extreme heat events.
For a complete breakdown of prehospital protocol, read our fire and EMS coordination guide and our guide to emergency department preparedness during heat waves.
The foundational rule validated by the ACSM and the International Olympic Committee applies from the moment of prehospital contact: 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 healthcare employers toward documented heat response equipment. France has already made this mandatory for emergency services under Décret n°2025-482.
In prehospital response or at emergency department intake, locally applied ice packs or an improvised tarp remain common practice. They work to a degree, but they allow neither whole-body immersion nor full patient access for monitoring.
Our comparison of cooling methods breaks down the performance gaps between these approaches and a dedicated immersion device.
What isn't enough in the prehospital setting
Cooling equipment intended for prehospital or hospital use has to meet precise requirements, regardless of brand. Kollder One™ and Kollder Go™ spec sheet below.
The equipment needs to be operational as soon as the crew reaches the patient, with no lengthy training and no extra staff 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 patient steady on uneven ground or in an intake bay, without shifting.
Hybrid transport bag, 85 × 10 × 10 cm folded, 11.1 kg. Stows in a standard ambulance or as departmental stock, no special fit-out required.
Whole-body immersion with full patient access allows monitoring throughout cooling. The food-grade stainless steel structure cleans and disinfects quickly between patients.
Four operational situations where fast cooling equipment makes the difference, from prehospital response to emergency department intake.
Cooling started on scene before transport, in line with the Cool First, Transport Second protocol. Details in our fire and EMS coordination guide.
EDs need to be able to treat several patients in severe hyperthermia simultaneously during a heat wave or extreme summer peak. See our ED surge and triage guide.
Getting equipment in place ahead of the risk season, in line with the recommendations in our complete guide to exertional heat stroke.
Maintaining proficiency in the immersion protocol requires equipment available for training, not just for live calls. See our training guide for medical and paramedical teams.
The reference treatment, validated by the ACSM and the IOC, is whole-body cold water immersion started from the moment of first contact with the victim, 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.
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. 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.
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 in a prehospital response, where the equipment needs to be operational as soon as the crew reaches the patient.
Four criteria matter most: single-operator deployment speed, portability inside an ambulance or as departmental stock, a material that meets hospital hygiene requirements such as food-grade stainless steel, and 360-degree patient access for monitoring throughout immersion.
Yes, provided it is designed for field use: folded down into a compact, lightweight format, it stows in a standard ambulance with no modification, then deploys directly on scene.
Tell us what you need. We'll get back to you within 48 hours with a proposal sized to your volume and setting.
The Kollder emergency cooling tub, in brief: