Mobile rehab centers bring freezers full of ice and frozen towels to help firefighters recover in the 2023 heatwave

As the Northern hemisphere heads into summer, the already difficult job of firefighting gets even more challenging in hot weather. Firefighters in Arizona have developed a mobile rehab center focusing on plenty of the most simple solution: Ice. 

The website AZ Family write on June 25 in article how their Valley Firefighters are preventing heat exhaustion and heat stroke when working to put out fires in temperatures of  43 C / 110 F or more.

The solution is mobile freezers carrying various forms of frozen items such as vests and caps which can be used to cool the head and the core to bring body temperatures down quickly. 

"We have frozen towels and cooling caps that can wrap around your head and vests which can be filled with frozen sleeves. There is plenty of water, freezers with ice packs and someone on the scene monitoring the firefighters", says Captain Dave Folio, who 's goal is to completely eliminate heat stroke and heat exhaustion among staff this summer. 

Follow the link below to see a video of how the mobile heat rehab center is set up:

Read full article with video on ACFamily.com 

Photo: U.S. Air Force firefighters rush into extreme heat temperatures to extinguish live fire during training at 165th Airlift Wing, Garden City, Ga., Oct. 3, 2015. The 165th AW firefighters train to meet both local, global protection needs, provide timely fire prevention education and protection to the wing, the Air Dominance Center and the airport tenants. (Air National Guard photo by Staff Sgt. Noel Velez/Released)