PHOENIX — Phoenix firefighters are using a blue body bag and bags of ice to rapidly cool heat stroke patients rescued from Valley mountain trails, a low-tech method crews say is saving lives.
Phoenix averages more than 200 mountain rescues each year, and those numbers are trending higher in 2026. Through the first five months of the year, crews responded to 74 mountain rescues — compared to 49 at the same point last year, an increase of more than 50%. Many of those patients are suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
When a patient's internal temperature exceeds 104º and they show signs of altered consciousness, Phoenix rescue crews deploy the method: placing the patient inside a blue body bag packed with 8 to 10 bags of ice to rapidly drive down their core temperature. Some patients have arrived with internal temperatures as high as 109º.
Capt. Todd Keller of the Phoenix Fire Department said the threshold for using the treatment is clear.
"They have to be over 104º and have an altered level of consciousness. Sometimes that can be unconscious."
The goal is to bring that temperature down before the patient reaches the hospital.
"Our goal is to get this patient below 101º when we transfer care to the hospital,” Keller said. "It's a simple system. You have your 8 to 10 bags of ice. You're putting that patient there. You're rapidly cooling their body down.”
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Phoenix has been using the method for a few years now, and Keller said the results have been remarkable.
"We're seeing the results where these patients are actually talking to us by the time they get to the hospital after being unconscious."
Watch in the player below how firefighters use ice bags and the body bag to help patients.
The system requires no specialized equipment beyond what crews already carry.
"It's a plug-and-play system. We have our ice, we have our bag, we have the patient and we're transporting them to the hospital. It's turned out it's absolutely life-saving," Keller said.
Ice chests are now stocked and waiting for rescue crews at many trailheads across the Valley.
On days when the National Weather Service issues an Extreme Heat Warning — like today — trails at Piestewa Peak, Camelback Mountain and South Mountain close from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The city says rescue numbers have improved since the closures began. Phoenix has also added electronic gates, message boards, cameras and those ice chests at some of the Valley's busiest trailheads.
Despite those measures, fire officials say the early 2026 numbers are concerning.
"Overestimating what they can do, not bringing enough water, and thinking if we don't get to the top, it's not a successful hike," Rob McDade with the Phoenix Fire Department told ABC15 earlier this year.
Data from last summer shows most hikers who needed rescue were Arizona residents, not tourists.
Fire officials are encouraging hikers to start early, bring plenty of water, know their limits and remember that reaching the summit is not the measure of a successful outing.
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