heating/cooling blankets and thermal burns (NOT in surgical setting)

[deweydecimal13501]

Hello everyone,

I have a really interesting question here. I have a nurse who has asked for information about heating blankets/cooling blankets and thermal burns outside the intraoperative setting. I have done a LOT of literature searching (database searching) and found very little written. HELP! There must be more information out there about heating/cooling blankets and thermal burns and the general medical setting. Do they happen?

Does anyone have information? I would be very appreciative.

Thank-you in advance,

Deweydecimal13501

[~Mi Vida Loca~RN, ASN, RN]

We have always used Bair huggers and warm blankets and warm fluids for heating and I have never seen a burn from it or any adverse reactions from it. For cooling we have always put ice packs in certain areas (for heat stroke), spray water and fans or ran cold fluid. That's what I have commonly seen at all my facilities.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Not sure what the ICU in my facility uses for the hypothermia protocol, but I know that for warming they use the exact same bair huggers we use in the OR. Perhaps the reason you can't find any literature specific to outside the OR is because it's the same equipment?

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

Well the Bair Hugger and the blanket warmer don't get warm enough to cause burns. I hate, hate uding the Arctic Sun for cooling though!! If someone is very febrile, the temperature of the water bath can be 0° C. Those stupid pads can cause 2nd degree burns, so we have to be very vigilant. (It's been forever since I've had a pt on hypothermia, but in the last couple of years they'd gotten very cautious about inserting a cooling line. Research had shown a risk of thromboses with them. Sigh)