A British coroner has called for a crackdown on the increasingly popular trend of cold water immersion therapy, after an inquest linked to the death of a woman taking part in a session last year.
Kellie Poole died when her heart stopped after entering the River Goyt, in Derbyshire, in April 2022.
Warning that there could be more fatalities, coroner Peter Nieto said there was “very little oversight” of companies providing an activity that is growing in popularity across Britain, reports The Independent.
The procedure involves participants immersing themselves in cold water to speed healing after an injury, ease joint and muscle pain, and quicken recovery from exercise, and is believed to have mental health benefits.
Nieto has written to the country’s Health and Safety Executive calling for the practice to be regulated.
At the two-day inquest, it was heard that Poole had complained of a headache after entering the 10.7C degree water at the session, run by a company named Breatheolution, before falling in the river.
Despite efforts to revive her, she died on the river bank from sudden cardiac death.
The 39-year-old had an undiagnosed heart condition, which meant she was unable to recover when the cold water triggered it to fall out of rhythm, causing her death, her inquest heard.
Although she was unaware of her heart abnormality there is no “specific health and safety guidance” that participants must be told, the coroner said.
In a Prevention of Future Deaths report, Nieto said there was a concerning lack of regulation in the activity.
“It appears there is increasing public interest and participation in cold water immersion,” he wrote, “with businesses being established that offer immersion sessions … and charge participants a fee for the sessions.
“Some people may experience an adverse physiological reaction to cold water immersion, which has the potential to be life-threatening.”
See more from MedicalBrief archives:
A short, sharp, cold-water swim may beat painkillers
Taking the plunge — the benefits of cold-water swimming