From the moment corona arrived in the Netherlands, nurses had to take extra measures to protect themselves against this virus. But the personal protective equipment also comes with challenges. The heat caused by the plastic suits is one such challenge that makes work uncomfortable as temperatures can rise to thirty-six degrees. And that is why healthcare professionals quickly turned to cooling vests as a potential solution. Whether or not they would work, no one was sure.
Cooling vest is a great solution against heat for COVID-19 nurses
Radboudumc in collaboration with TNO, started investigating the potential benefits of cooling vests. These vests were originally developed for top athletes for the Olympic Games in Tokyo and first had to be modified as athletes use the vests to cool down quickly after physical exertion. Whereas the nurses needed them to remain cool for a longer period.
After modifying the vests, researchers conducted a study to evaluate their effectiveness. They observed seventeen nurses (five men and twelve women) over two days: one day with and one day without a cooling vest. All participants worked in COVID-19 care at Radboudumc. Each nurse wore the vest over their work clothes and under a protective suit.
At the start of each shift, the cooling vest had a temperature of twenty-one degrees Celsius and weighed 1.2 kilos. After three hours, the nurses replaced their vests with fresh ones. A mobile cooler brought the vests to the correct temperature, and staff disinfected them with alcohol after each use.
The cooling vest (21 ° C CoolOver, INUTEQ) has sixteen inserts on the front (see image on the left) and 20 on the back(see image on the right)
Cooling vest has a psychological effect
The vests did not lower the body temperature but, users felt more comfortable and, the heart rate went down. Ninety percent of nurses reported feeling discomfort and hot without a vest and, this dropped to twenty to thirty percent with a vest. Also, almost all nurses said that wearing a vest was comparable to working without protective equipment. Because of the success, the cooling vests are now standard in the COVID-19 departments at Radboudumc.
It is great to see how cooling vests that were initially developed for athletes have helped the nurses. I’m curious if these will become standard in hospitals, or if they will disappear after the pandemic. What do you think?
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