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Stop chilling!

January 2012

Published in the January 2012 issue of Today’s Hospitalist

THE NEXT TIME A NURSE COMPLAINS that the hospital is always cold, you might want to mention a new product that’s specifically designed to combat the chilly climate that hospitals are only too famous for.

Thermscrubs are made of fleece that is not only moisture- and stain-resistant, but breathes. The manufacturer claims that the scrubs provide 30% more warmth than standard-issue hospital scrubs. Brodie Perez, president of operations for Thermscrub, says that his father came up with the idea for an insulated scrub while working in hospital radiology departments over the last 30 years. He noticed that nurses and technicians were always cold, something that can be a particular problem in radiology departments where machines can overheat if the air conditioning isn’t running full tilt.

Mr. Perez says that the strategies commonly used by staff members to cope with the cold “adding layers of clothes underneath traditional scrubs or even wearing a patient blanket over scrubs “are not only uncomfortable, but restrict movement. Still, the idea of making hospital scrubs warmer seemed like a somewhat radical step. “Scrubs have been the same for 40 years,” Mr. Perez says. “Fleece is a fairly drastic change.”

The fleece scrubs, which hit the market in November 2010, are available in pants and long-sleeved tops. To help meet the color schemes of most hospitals, Thermscrubs come in nine colors.

(Mr. Perez notes, however, that Thermscrubs are not designed to be used in operating rooms because of static.)

And while hospitals are cold year-round, Mr. Perez explains that interest in Thermscrubs peaks during the winter months. “The colder weather brings more awareness to the fact that people are cold,” he says, “but our scrubs serve an important purpose all year round.”

More information about Thermscrubs is online at www.thermscrub.com.