Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39695744›Full record

ArticleScandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine2024

Methods and equipment available for prehospital treatment of accidental hypothermia: a survey of Norwegian prehospital services.

Tea Wick Barsten, Emilie Sunde, Øyvind Thomassen, Sigurd Mydske

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Trial
  2. Accidental hypothermia.Nature reviews. Disease primers · 2026
    Review
  3. The epidemiology of canyoning rescue operations in Italy: a retrospective 15-year database study.Scandinavian journal of trauma, resuscitation and emergency medicine · 2026
    Article
  4. Observational
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Tea Wick BarstenMountain Medicine Research Group, The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Bergen, Norway.
Emilie SundeMountain Medicine Research Group, The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Bergen, Norway.
Øyvind ThomassenMountain Medicine Research Group, The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Bergen, Norway.
Sigurd MydskeMountain Medicine Research Group, The Norwegian Air Ambulance Foundation, Bergen, Norway. sigurd.mydske@norskluftambulanse.no.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundAccidental hypothermia is associated with increased morbidity and mortality and poses a significant challenge for both professional and volunteer rescue services in prehospital settings. This study investigated the methods and equipment available to treat patients with cold stress or accidental hypothermia before reaching hospital in Norway.

methodsWe surveyed 156 respondents representing 708 units from both the professional and volunteer Norwegian prehospital chain of care between 2023 and 2024. Professional services included national ground ambulances, boat ambulances, national fixed wing and helicopter air ambulance services, search and rescue helicopter services, and urban search and rescue services. Volunteer services included Norwegian People's Aid and the Norwegian Red Cross Search and Rescue Corps. The survey queried the availability of active warming equipment, passive insulation materials, thermometers for detecting hypothermia, and preferred sites for temperature measurements. The study also investigated whether there has been a development in available equipment compared to a similar study conducted in 2013.

resultsThe survey achieved a response rate of 70.5%. Chemical heat pads were the most frequently used type of equipment for active external warming and were the only equipment used by volunteer rescue services. All services possessed equipment for passive external warming, with duvets, space blankets and wool- or cotton blankets being the most commonly available. Thermometers for detecting hypothermia were found in 86.3% of professional rescue services and 15% of volunteer units. Almost all respondents reported consistent equipment setups year-round.

conclusionAll Norwegian prehospital services, both professional and volunteer, reported having equipment available for active and passive external warming. Thermometers for detecting hypothermia were reported by all professional services. The most notable change in the equipment available to treat patients with prehospital cold stress and accidental hypothermia in Norway was the increased availability of active external rewarming equipment in 2024 compared with that in 2013.

Indexed as

Emergency Medical ServicesHypothermiaHumansNorwaySurveys and QuestionnairesAccidental hypothermiaActive external rewarmingCold stressEmergency medicineMountain medicinePrehospital

Identifiers

PMID39695744
PMCPMC11653919

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.