I have seen literally many thousands of patients brought in by ambulance. Few were hypothermic, and Canadian winters and ambulance distances are both unfavourable compared to the UK. Is Afghanistan a cold place? I’m sure it can be.
A lot of emergency innovations come from military applications (see mast trousers). Things that make sense on a battlefield with delayed care and limited local resources do not always translate well to more controlled settings. I see disadvantages compared to simple warmed blankets for urban or suburban ERs.
But if research proves both efficacy and good use of time, it’s not like it is difficult to put on. Might be tougher to remove as said. I suspect some people just like to use it, which is fine.
Most paramedics use a leg splint to apply traction. This is not quite the same as reducing a dislocation. It is usually to try to help maintain neurovascular status for something that will need an operation to keep in place, like a hip or femur fracture.
And for most injuries in most environments, local temperature control is not a serious factor. Say a hiker fell and had a severe limb injury. The ambulance is heated. Blankets are warm. In serious hypothermia rewarming must be carefully controlled and is often protective for many things.
Assessing airway and breathing, controlling bleeding, maintaining circulation, assessing nerve damage, cleaning to reduce infection, deeply cleaning open wounds, assessing bones, splinting to reduce movement, traction or reduction in the presence of neurovascular concerns, pain control, quick transfer for proper assessment — all of these would usually be higher priority than keeping warm, which can be quickly done with stuff that won’t stick to a wound, is more sterile and (if needed) likely more effective at insulation. More dressings make all of those assessments harder.
Sometimes doctors and paramedics like stuff they think is cool. You don’t need purple casts or gloves. Few things require a “stainless steel suture” though they are a thing. It’s fun to play with Glidescopes. I think this is medical clickbait. It could work. Someone tried it when options were limited. But the proof is in the pudding. If they are not using this everywhere within a decade it is because it didn’t live up to the hype.
We typically lay a sheet on the gurney, open it up, put the patient on & then fold one side over them & then the other side over the first, kind of like a quick swaddling. I haven’t seen it used but if the sheets of bubble wrap are big enough I would expect them to be used the same way which means the patient is wrapped up in it fairly quickly. Trauma shears are used to cut clothing off of an injured patient. the bottom (left in that image) side is fairly flat & the ‘point’ is dull & wide so even if you do manage to touch the patient with it you’re not poking them as you would be with regular scissors. If they’re good enough to cut thru denim/leather/other clothing material I don’t think bubble wrap would be much of a challenge to cut.
I’m trained in ice rescue; when you pull a person out of the water who has fallen thru the ice the are wet & cold. one specific line of our protocols is:
Wrap wet patient in plastic inner liner to keep water away from insulation layers
IOW, that nice warm blanket you wrap them up in won’t stay dry (& warm) if you put it against their wet clothes. While the protocol doesn’t specifically call for bubble wrap, the bubbles would provide some trapped air, which is a good insulator & it would allow for some air circulation that remains trapped
.
.
Protocols vary by state, county, & dept but we were always required to take the patient into the ER.
We were not allowed to Ding Dong Dixie & leave the patient outside on the ground …unless it was a later call & we hadn’t had dinner & the pizza joint was about to close. Then we were allowed to leave them on the smoker’s bench so one of the nurses or orderlies would find them in short order.
There is some possible use in ice rescue, but I suspect this is not a common presentation in the vast wildernesses of suburban England. It is an uncommon presentation in Canada,
Very cold patients are at risk of cardiac and neural sequelae. They need wet clothes removed and to be warmed. I could see some use here, but think a BairHugger would work better. But wrap is cheap and available.
Of course one cuts of clothes and dressings in an emergency. Has research been done on wrap and spinal boards?
I did a bit of googling to see if there’s any NHS guidance on the question, but it appears one air ambulance service uses it - mainly because they believe it gets patients warmer quicker:
