A friends’ trip to a remote cabin in the Red River Gorge area of Kentucky nearly turned deadly, local rescuers said on Friday, after two women took an extended soak in a hot tub and developed hyperthermia, the opposite of hypothermia, in which the body is overheated and cannot cool.
The long period spent on Wednesday night in the swirling, heated waters was unintentional, rescuers in rural Wolfe County said.
Two women in their 80s “were unable to get out of the tub because of pre-existing issues,” Wolfe County Search and Rescue said on its website.
The women became overheated and unresponsive, the rescue team said. A third woman got in the hot tub to keep the women’s heads above water while a fourth woman called 911.
The cabin’s caretakers were able to get the two women out of the tub by the time rescuers arrived.
One woman was partially responsive, and the other was completely unresponsive and in critical condition, rescuers said.
One of the rescuers, an emergency medical technician, moved the critical patient to a shower, where cold water, along with ice, were applied. The team also applied ice and cold compresses to the less critical patient, before moving her outdoors, where she was doused with cold water from a hose.
After 20 to 30 minutes of cold water immersion, both patients began to recover, the rescuers said. The women were transferred to a hospital.
Additional details, including the women’s current conditions, were unavailable. Wolfe County Search and Rescue was unavailable for comment.
A rescuer later said that alcohol was not a factor in the incident.
The volunteer team said it had never received a call like this.
The team specializes in locating missing people, high-angle rope rescues, swift water rescues and water recoveries with a highly trained team of divers. It was deployed along the Kentucky River after major flooding in 2021 and 2022.
On Friday, the rescue team issued a reminder to limit periods in hot tubs.
“The recommended maximum immersion time is between 15-30 minutes,” the team said. “Ensure you are capable of exiting the hot tub once you enter, especially if you have any sort of disability.”
After the federal Consumer Product Safety Commission said that it learned of “several deaths” from extremely hot water (about 110 degrees Fahrenheit), it helped develop requirements in 1987 for temperature controls to ensure that spa water temperatures never exceed 104 degrees.
Heat-related injuries generally occur above that level, including an increased chance of experiencing abnormally high body temperature.
