Exertional Heat Stroke Best Practices in U.S. Emergency Medical Services Guidelines

Abstract

Background: Exertional heat illnesses (EHIs), specifically exertional heat stroke (EHS), are a top cause of nonaccidental death among U.S. laborers. EHS management requires coordination between Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and workplace officials to implement cold water immersion (CWI) and cool first, transport second (CFTS).

Objective: The purpose of this article was to quantify and identify existing statewide EMS guidelines, determine whether statewide EHS guidelines improved outcomes for EHIs in laborers, and examine the odds of laborer EHS fatalities when best practices are present in EMS statewide guidelines.

Methods: The Paramedic Protocol Provider database and official EMS websites were examined to determine which U.S. states had statewide EMS guidelines and, for those with statewide guidelines, a two-way χ² analysis with associated odds ratios examined EHI outcomes. Statewide EMS guidelines underwent content analysis by three independent reviewers regarding EHS best practices. Significance was set a priori at p < 0.05.

Results: Among 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico, 57.7% (n = 30) had statewide EMS guidelines and 42.3% (n = 22) did not. There was a significant association for EHI outcome for states recommending CWI as a cooling method vs. those that did not (χ²₁ = 3.336; p = 0.049). The odds of EHS deaths for laborers were 3.0 times higher if CWI was not included in the EMS guidelines. There was a significant association in EHI outcomes for states without CFTS (χ²₁ = 5.051; p = 0.017). The odds of laborers dying from EHS were 3.7 times higher in states without CFTS.

Conclusions: Laborers are 3.0 and 3.7 times less likely to die from EHS when statewide EMS guidelines include CWI and CFTS, respectively.

Keywords: emergency medical services; exertional heat illness; heat stroke; immersion; laborers; policy.