Hand immersion as a method of cooling and rewarming: a short review.

Many cooling and warming procedures have been proposed for the treatment of hyperthermic or hypothermic individuals. One of the most recent of these is the use of hand immersion as a simple method to gain or lose heat. In the present paper the principles underlying this approach, and the evidence for and against hand rewarming/cooling, are briefly reviewed. It is concluded that hand immersion is likely to be more effective for cooling than rewarming individuals.