Rare are the souls who enjoy being outside during a Japanese summer, so kudos to those exercising in the oppressive vortex of humidity and heat.

And even more respect to those who make it safer.

Cut to a group of middle school athletes quickly pouring water into what appears to be a bright orange pool under the blistering Toyama sun. Once full, ice cubes from a cooler were dumped in.

The soccer players weren't throwing together a prank or "matsuri" festival game, but a portable ice bath that only took five minutes to set up.

Scoff and call it a glorified kiddie pool all you want, but this one can save lives.

Toyama city's Viento Football Club bought the P-PEC, short for “Profit Personal Emergency Cooler,” for its players last year.

Its oldest members are 15 and the ice bath is a welcome addition to relieve the soccer players’ fatigue and have effective first aid on hand if any are hit with heatstroke.

“The device is affordable given how important children’s lives are,” said Masakazu Kuriyama, Viento representative.

Each costs 50,000 yen ($320), including tax, and more than 70 units have been sent to entities that include colleges and sports organizations.

I’LL MAKE IT MYSELF

The P-PEC was developed by Takashi Kawakami, 65, who does motocross as a hobby and runs a mail-order business in Sanda, Hyogo Prefecture.

Before working on it, Kawakami had ample experience caring for other riders hit with heatstroke during races and how to most effectively treat symptoms while waiting for paramedics.

The problem was the time it took ambulances to reach racing sites tucked into the mountains. For cases of severe heatstroke, the basic step of cooling down the person’s underarms and groin with something like wet towels or water bottles was ineffective.

He hoped to find a compact ice bath that could be easily set up at competition venues and required little water compared to a full-on pool, noting this is the most common method of combating heatstroke outside Japan.

However, nothing like that existed, prompting him to “create one on my own,” despite having no background in product design.

SKY HIGH INSPIRATION

His journey began by purchasing plastic at a hardware store and going through several prototypes, eventually gaining support from a manufacturing enterprise that was inspired by his determination.

Ironically, the tub needed to be coffin-shaped for a snugger fit that would cut down on the water needed. The next roadblock to overcome was how to prevent the entire thing from collapsing outward after the water level hit a certain point.

Kawakami was at a loss until a photo of a plane, of all things, sparked the eureka moment.

“This is it,” he recalled thinking when he zeroed in on the aircraft’s vertical tail fin. Attaching similar plates at right angles kept everything upright and P-PEC was perfected after three years of development.

The final product is 3.5 kilograms and requires 80 liters of water—less if it is used for smaller children because it does not need to be completely unfolded.

OUTDOORS VS. INDOORS

It’s not just a temporary measure—the Uonuma Kikan Hospital in Niigata Prefecture also uses ice baths to treat patients.

Seigo Yamaguchi, director of the regional emergency medical care center of the hospital in Minami-Uonuma said ice bathing is utilized at his establishment.

“Serious exercise-induced heatstroke can transpire in sports activities and work, raising body temperatures dramatically,” said Yamaguchi. “Patients may experience impaired consciousness and full-body convulsions.”

According to his accounts, ice-cold water has proved helpful in treating these symptoms.

“Cooling down the entire body before an ambulance arrives will help lower the possibility of organ dysfunction,” he said.

For anyone worried about exposing a patient to frigid water for too long, Yamaguchi said capping the time at five minutes was enough to have a positive effect.

All of this largely applies to outdoor cases, however. An ice bath isn’t necessarily helpful indoors, particularly for elderly individuals suffering from heatstroke.

“You do not have to place them in a bathtub full of cold water at all costs,” said a representative of the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine. “You should call an ambulance instead.”

Nationwide data from the internal affairs ministry shows a total of 91,467 individuals were taken to the hospital for heatstroke between May and September last year.

Of that number, 1,889 were in serious condition, with 107 deaths recorded.