Testing time for medical cooling vest

A medical cooling vest was recently tested at the University of Brighton’s Sport and Exercise Science Consultancy Unit (SESCU).

The product called the CAERvest® was tested by Ash Willmott and Dr Neil Maxwell and was effectively used during the recent Brighton and London marathons on several runners suffering from exertional heat illnesses.

The CAERvest® is a new, novel, pre-hospital device which is used to rapidly and effectively lower the core temperature of an individual suffering from heat stroke or cardiac arrest.

While it was a hot day with temperatures exceeding 19°C at the Brighton marathon, ambient temperatures never rose above 13°C at the London marathon. However, unfortunately there were several incidents where the physiological strain while running the marathon combined with the added negative effect of the heat stress, took its toll on a few runners who experienced exertional heat illnesses.

The CAERvest® products were applied straight away by the onsite medical staff, which rapidly decreased the enlarged body temperatures of the runners and inevitably led to them recovering faster in hospital.

Medical race directors were extremely positive towards the new product which was trialled for the first time at the marathon event and it is now being targeted at future athletic, multi-stage, endurance races and other sporting events.