A reply

Abstract

We would like to thank Drs Batistich and Clark for their feedback on the SunTouch Patient Warmer. We agree with their recommendations that the SunTouch should be used with caution on patients in the lateral position. We have previously investigated the safety of the warmer with regard to lowering the risk of burns. The technology used in the warmer does not allow widening of the ultrasonic field as proposed by the authors. We recognise, however, that this improvement can be applied to any future patient warmer design. To help mitigate the risk of accidental burns we have recently conducted a study on labelling of the warmer. The study used 100 volunteers who were divided into two groups: group one had 51 volunteers who were asked to set up the existing warmer, and group two had 49 volunteers who were asked to set up a labelled warmer. The safety of the set-ups was assessed and categorised as safe or unsafe [1]. The study showed that a pictorial label attached to the heater decreased the incidence of unsafe set-ups from 14 of 51 set-ups down to 1 of 49 (p = 0.0004). This decrease is by a factor of 13.4, a significant improvement in the labelled warmer group. The SunTouch Patient Warmer is an effective and safe way of maintaining body core temperature [2]; however, care should be taken during set-up, especially with laterally positioned patients.