Author: openjargon

• President Joe Biden conceded his first debate did not go well.
• "I don't debate as well as I used to," Biden said during a rally, listing off other skills that have diminished.
• But Biden remained clear he's not going anywhere.

President Joe Biden on Friday admitted what the nation already knew: he bungled his first debate against former President Donald Trump.

"I don't debate as well as I used to," Biden told supporters at a rally in North Carolina.

To be fair, even Vice President Kamala Harris admitted that her running mate got off to "a slow start."

Biden conceded that his debate skills aren't the only thing that has diminished.

"I know I'm not a young man, to state the obvious," Biden said, his voice growing louder. "I don't walk as easy as I used to. I don't speak as smoothly as I used to. I don't debate as well as I used to."

But the president remained emphatic that he remains the best option to defeating Trump this November.

"But I know what I do know: I know how to tell the truth," he said. I know right from wrong. And I know how to do this job. I know how to get things done. And I know like millions of Americans know, when you get knocked down you get back up."

Biden reiterated his long-held belief that he's up to the job.

"I would not be running again if I did not believe with all my heart and soul that I can do this job," he said.

During a disastrous Thursday night debate, Biden gave raspy and sometimes meandering responses. At one point, Trump even mocked him stating, "I really don't know what he said at the end of that sentence. I don't think he knows what he said either."

It wasn't just Republicans.

After the debate, Democrats began sounding the alarm and reconsidering whether they could get the president to step aside or even push him off the ballot. Biden's performance, as Democrats pointed out, was particularly disastrous because it underlined the biggest concern Americans already had about his standing as the nation's oldest president seeking reelection to a term that would leave him at 86 years old at the end of it.

"There are going to be discussions about if he should continue," David Axelrod, a former senior Obama White House advisor, said on CNN following the debate.

A snap poll of debate watchers also proclaimed Trump the clear winner. According to the CNN poll, 67% of viewers thought the former president won, compared to just 33% for Biden.

No current major elected Democrats have called on the president to step down. Senior Democrats and others in the party offered mostly curt responses to reporters on Capitol Hill when asked about Biden's standing.

"From a performance standpoint it wasn't great, but from a values standpoint, it far outshone the other guy," former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters, per The New York Times.

As if Biden's rally speech wasn't a clear enough message to anxious Democrats, the president walked off the stage with Tom Petty's defiant hit, "I Won't Back Down" playing in the background.

• Marilyn Monroe's home in Brentwood, California, was ruled a landmark by the LA City Council.
• The current owners sued the city for the right to demolish it to expand their home next door.
• Monroe died inside the home in August 1962.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe, one of the most iconic figures in American culture, was found dead inside her home in Brentwood, a neighborhood in Los Angeles. She was 36.

Sixty-two years later, the Los Angeles City Council ruled that her former home should be declared a historical cultural monument, as Variety reported.

The decision came after a May 2024 lawsuit from the current owners, Brinah Milstein and Roy Bank, who sued the City of Los Angeles to tear down the home, alleging "illegal and unconstitutional conduct and abuse of power by the city." The Los Angeles Times reported the couple bought the home in July 2023 for $8.35 million.

However, after this latest decision, Monroe's home will remain standing.

Here's everything you need to know about the home, its past, and what will happen now.

Marilyn Monroe purchased the Brentwood hacienda-style house in February 1962. It was the only house she ever owned.

The home, located at 12305 Fifth Helena Drive, was built in 1929. According to Architectural Digest, the 2,900-square-foot home had two bedrooms, a small guesthouse, and a pool. Two more bedrooms have since been added.

She called it a "cute little Mexican-style house with eight rooms" and a "fortress where I can feel safe from the world," AD reported.

In a sad coincidence, the Latin phrase "Cursum Perficio," which means "The journey ends here," was written on the front porch's tiles. Its origins remain unknown.

Monroe lived there for just a few months — she died of an overdose in the home in August 1962.

At the time, she purchased it for $77,500. In 2023, it sold for $8.35 million.

The most recent sale was in July 2023, according to the Los Angeles Times. The property was purchased by heiress Brinah Milstein — her family was worth $3.1 billion in 2015 after making their fortune in real estate, according to Forbes — and her husband, Roy Bank, a reality TV producer.

Milstein and Bank sued the City of Los Angeles in May 2024 for the right to demolish the home.

The lawsuit came after a temporary halt on demolition that was issued in September 2023.

According to Milstein and Bank, the home has changed hands 14 times since Monroe's death and there have been "over a dozen" permits issued in relation to remodeling the home.

"There is not a single piece of the house that includes any physical evidence that Ms. Monroe ever spent a day at the house," the lawsuit alleged, The New York Times reported.

But the home has been likened to Graceland for fans of Monroe and has become a tourist attraction.

Much like Elvis Presley's home Graceland has become a place for fans of the King to come together and celebrate their idol, Monroe's super-fans are connected to this home.

That's according to Scott Fortner, a lifelong fan who runs The Marilyn Monroe Collection. He spoke to KCAL News in September 2023, after the demolition had been temporarily halted.

"This home is the equivalent of Graceland. It's that place where people go to remember Marilyn and just consider the fact that this was where she was happy and really wanted to start something new — a new chapter in her life," he said.

Now, the home will remain untouched after the LA City Council ruled it is a landmark.

According to The New York Times, on June 26, the council voted unanimously 12 to 0 to add the house to the list of local landmarks.

"There is no other person or place in the city of Los Angeles as iconic as Marilyn Monroe and her Brentwood home," said a member of the City Council, Traci Park. "To lose this piece of history, the only home that Marilyn Monroe ever owned, would be a devastating blow for historic preservation," she continued.

After the decision, an attorney for the homeowners told City News Service, "Traci Park's actions today and throughout the process, disregarding the interests of her constituents and the facts and merits, demonstrate that no one's home or investment is safe."

The lawsuit is still pending, and a hearing is set for August 13.

• Mobile Passport Control lets travelers skip customs lines with a free app on their phone.
• The app, available since 2014, is underused despite being available at 33 major US airports.
• Global Entry is faster and more widely used but costs $100 and requires an interview.

Global Entry isn't the only way international travelers can skip long lines at US Customs and Border Protection (CBP).

The popular program that allows travelers reentering the US to breeze through customs has a $100 application fee and requires an in-person interview at an airport or government building for approval, according to the CBP website.

"It's a great option for those who frequently travel internationally, but it doesn't make sense for everybody," Sean Cudahy, an aviation reporter at The Points Guy who has Global Entry and has already flown 65,000 miles this year, told Business Insider.

For occasional international travelers, there's a free way to save time at CBP, and no application or interview is required — all you need is your phone.

Mobile Passport Control

Mobile Passport Control is an app available on Google Play and the Apple App Store. It allows many travelers to submit their CBP forms electronically and enter a shorter customs line upon arrival in 33 major international US airports, including John F. Kennedy, Phoenix Sky Harbor, and Dallas Fort Worth, according to the CBP website.

"On any given day, you might see a 30-minute line for customs, and most of the people that are standing in that line are eligible for the Mobile Passport Control line, which is sometimes only a couple of people at any given moment." Cudahy, who recently reported on the program, told BI. "It's available to a wide range of travelers."

US citizens, Lawful Permanent Residents, Canadians with a B1/B2 visa, and permanent citizens of the 41 countries included in the Visa Waiver Program who have been to the US before can use the app when arriving in the US.

It's not exactly Global Entry

"Nothing is as fast as Global Entry," Cudahy said. "I've been through Global Entry probably a dozen times in the last eight or nine months, and on most of those occasions, it's so fast that my feet barely even stop moving."

While Mobile Passport Control users access a shorter line to talk to CBP officers, Global Entry members don't talk to an officer at all.

"You get off the plane, go right to a kiosk, it recognizes your face, and you're on your way in a matter of seconds," Cudahy said of Global Entry.

Global Entry is also available in twice as many US airports as Mobile Passport Control, and it includes TSA PreCheck access for the duration of the membership.

While it's a more useful perk than Mobile Passport Control, not every international traveler wants to pay $100 and go to the airport for an interview. But they can still avoid long wait times.

An underrated hack

Mobile Passport Control has been available since 2014, but not many people use it — especially compared to Global Entry. According to a CBP press release, 4 million travelers used Mobile Passport Control in 2023.

Meanwhile, more than 10 million travelers either enrolled in or renewed their Global Entry memberships in the same year, according to the CBP. And the regular customs line remains long.

Cudahy told BI that CBP wants more travelers to use Mobile Passport Control.

How to use the app

Once your flight lands in the US, open the Mobile Passport Control app.

The app will ask you to select the airport you've arrived at.

Next, you'll be prompted to add travelers to your trip. Up to 12 travelers in your household can enter their information on the same phone, making it easier and more efficient for families traveling together.

Each traveler will scan their passport, enter their personal information and customs declaration forms, and take a selfie.

Once you submit the forms through the app and deplane, follow the signs for Mobile Passport Control to the shorter customs line.

A customs officer will take only one traveler's photo to pull up everyone's information in your group.

First-timer tips

The process is simple, but Cudahy has a few tips for first-time users.

First off, download the app before your trip rather than after landing.

"Sometimes, when you take a phone off airplane mode, it could be a little wonky at first," he said.

When you download the app in advance, Cudahy suggests getting comfortable with it before your trip.

"Don't submit any declarations on the application until you're ready, but you can play around with it and familiarize yourself so you're ready to go when you land," he said.

And lastly, if you're traveling with family, make sure everyone knows about the selfie.

"Just have them all aware of the fact that everybody's going to need to take a selfie on the one person's phone," he said. "That way, you can do it in an efficient manner once the plane lands."

Once you deplane and see that short line next to rows of travelers in the regular customs line, you'll be glad you're in on this underrated hack.

• Dr. Laurie Santos teaches "Psychology and the Good Life" at Yale University.
• She came up with the course after seeing students struggle with their mental health.
• Recently, she shared her own obstacles to happiness on her podcast, "The Happiness Lab."

At an annual checkup, Dr. Laurie Santos' tests all looked good — except one.

Her CRP levels, which measure inflammation, came back a little higher. Her doctor said one of the triggers could be heightened stress.

It made sense. Santos, a Yale professor, oversaw over 500 students during the pandemic, ran a university lab, and led a podcast, she said in a recent episode.

But there was some irony to her high stress levels: Santos is also known as a "happiness expert." After becoming head of Yale's largest residential college in 2016 and witnessing depression and panic attacks among her students, she created "Psychology and the Good Life," a course that explores how to improve well-being.

It became the most popular class in Yale's history and was eventually adapted into an online course with over 4.7 million students worldwide.

Recently, Santos decided to open up about her struggles.

In new episodes of her podcast, Santos tackles how she "flunks her own class," from being a perfectionist to fearing boredom.

"Some people really think I'm this walking happiness emoji," Santos said. "But of course, I'm human." She shared some of the lessons she learned.

Curb self-comparison

Santos said one of her biggest problems is perfectionism. In one episode, Ryan Dilley, her podcast producer, said that Santos constantly strives for flawless results in her work.

"Sometimes it's not possible, but it's so hard to watch," Dilley said to Santos. "You're horrible to yourself sometimes."

She told BI that "existential perfectionism" haunts her students, too, who strive to have ideal grades, looks, jobs, and relationships.

"There's no domain in which perfectionism is sparing young people," she said, adding that much of it is driven by frequent self-comparison via social media.

She said this chase for perfection is one of the biggest things people get wrong about happiness. "We have all these theories about the things that will make us feel better," she said, whether it's making more money or scoring that dream job.

"By and large, the research seems to show that our circumstances don't matter for our happiness as much as we think," she said. "We'd be much better off changing our behavior and mindsets."

Question your need for busyness

Santos said most of her issues arise from "trying to navigate busyness and busy culture" as a professor and podcaster. While she loves what she does, she also recognizes how much work it is to balance both responsibilities.

She wants to create "healthier standards for what counts as work," but said it's a struggle because her busyness also greatly contributes to her career success.

Part of what keeps her (and many of her students) so busy is a perceived glamour around hustling. "There's a sort of social status to being busy," she said. Becoming healthier means pushing back against common cultural norms.

Reframe negative emotions

Santos found ways to look at negative emotions through a different lens in multiple episodes.

For example, she learned that boredom isn't something to run from. While it's a feeling she never liked and something her students "definitely avoid at all costs," she also told BI that it's crucial for "coming up with their best creative ideas."

In the episode on stress, she spoke to David S. Yeager, a psychology professor at UT Austin. He taught her that how one frames stress impacts their body's reaction to it: people who learn to view stress as a helpful adrenaline boost or performance enhancer are less likely to be debilitated by it.

"That was really profound for me, because stress really felt like it's just this biological phenomenon," Santos said. "But even there, our mindset really seems to matter."

Take small, daily steps

If there's any big takeaway to get from her course or recent podcast episodes, Santos said it's that "happiness takes work."

In her class, she has students complete surveys to track their happiness at the beginning and end of the semester — a practice she follows in her own life. "You're not going from zero to 100," she said. The goal is to create small changes that amount to a 10-15% positive increase in your mood.

For example, if you're intensely self-critical, that work might look like tracking and challenging your thoughts with a daily journal instead of absorbing negativity. "That's pushing against the habit that feels really natural," she said.

• Russia is on the offensive, but not contributing all it can into the assault, reflecting Russia's plans.
• Putin's strategy focuses on attrition and limiting Ukraine's counteroffensive capabilities.
• ISW experts warn that delays in Western aid could lead to Ukraine's collapse and Russian victory.

Russian forces are making a push along an axis between Chasiv Yar and Avdiivka but not throwing their full weight into it. War analysts say that the tactics appear to reflect Russian President Putin's theory of victory in Ukraine, revealed earlier this month.

"Russian forces have committed only limited forces to this operation so far, which suggests that Russian forces continue to prioritize gradual advances through consistent grinding assaults over operationally significant gains through rapid maneuver," analysts at the Institute of the Study of War assess.

Speaking at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum on June 7, Putin said that speed is unnecessary, explaining that Russian forces can gradually "squeeze" the Ukrainians out of territories Moscow seeks to control.

Putin theorized that the gradual progress Russian forces make will allow them to achieve the Kremlin's aims, as it prevents Ukraine from conducting effective counteroffensive tactics.

Slow, steady, grinding operations in the Toretsk direction are a goal for Russian forces, as they believe it will block Ukraine from gathering critical resources, as well as personnel, and drain what it already has. And that, ISW experts said, may be more important than seizing territory.

Analysts from the Washington-based ISW predict that Russia's approach to this conflict, which aims to "win a war of attrition against Ukrainian forces," could take anywhere from months to years to accomplish. At the forum this month, Putin said he was confident the plans to make gradual gains will come to fruition.

ISW analysts advise that Western partner nations supply Ukraine's military with the resources it needs to "liberate significant swaths of occupied Ukraine and challenge Putin's belief that he can gradually subsume Ukraine."

Ukraine has overcome some of the dangerous shortfalls it faced earlier in the years as partners step up support, but the pace at which Ukraine is currently receiving aid is limited and enforces Putin's strategy, which is focused on outlasting Ukraine.

ISW experts noted that the end of Western assistance for Ukraine could lead to a total collapse of its front line and an all-out, complete victory for Russia.

"Ukraine should contest the initiative as soon as possible because Russian forces are reaping a variety of benefits from holding the initiative, including their ability to pursue a strategy of attritional warfare," the analysts concluded.

• Joe Biden and Donald Trump faced off in the first 2024 presidential debate.
• Biden's poor performance sparked panic among Democrats, and Trump lied throughout.
• Photographers across the US captured viewers' reactions to the debate ranging from dread to alarm.

Across the US, many viewers of the first 2024 presidential debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump appeared to find the spectacle difficult to watch.

As Biden's convoluted answers and poor performance sparked panic among Democrats, Trump dodged questions in favor of offering lies and misleading statements about his own political record. At one point, the candidates argued about who was a better golfer.

Photographers across the US captured Americans' reactions to the debate, ranging from shock and disappointment to frustration and alarm.

At a debate watch party at Broadway Bowl in South Portland, Maine, Karen Sellinger appeared exasperated as Trump spoke.

Rosemarie DeAngelus, another Broadway Bowl attendee, told the Associated Press that Biden "just didn't have the spark that we needed tonight."

A patron draped in an American flag at a pub in San Francisco seemingly struggled to keep his composure.

Viewers at home weren't the only ones struggling to make sense of the debate. Prominent Democrats, including former senior Obama White House advisor David Axelrod and Biden's former White House communications director Kate Bedingfield, also lamented Biden's performance on CNN.

Sean Cannon, who watched the debate at the Old Louisville Tavern in Kentucky, hid his face in his hands as the candidates traded barbs.

Cannon told BI this photo was taken as Trump and Biden argued over their golfing skills.

"I think that's what was actually happening, because it felt like I was beginning to dissociate a little with how ridiculous the entire moment was," Cannon said.

Another viewer at the Old Louisville Tavern, Amy McKinley, took a similar position while wearing a red "Make lying wrong again" baseball cap.

CNN fact-checker Daniel Dale estimated that Trump said at least 30 false or misleading statements during the debate, while Biden said nine.

A viewer at a watch party in Washington, DC, placed her hand over her mouth during the debate.

Shaw's Tavern, a gastropub located just under 2 miles from the White House, hosted the watch party.

At a Young Republicans' watch party in New York, audience members displayed a range of reactions.

Despite numerous false statements, Trump is widely regarded to have won the presidential debate against Biden, who appeared frail and disoriented.

Watchers appeared nervous at an event hosted by the Miami Freedom Project in Florida.

Trump won Florida in both the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.

A poor debate performance doesn't necessarily spell doom for a presidential campaign, but it doesn't help, either.

In 2012, Barack Obama's first presidential debate with Mitt Romney proved disastrous with the incumbent president appearing unprepared and annoyed during the event, CNN reported. Obama still went on to defeat Romney and win a second term.

However, the 2024 debate was viewed as Biden's chance to come out strong and assuage voters' concerns about his age and fitness, but his poor performance failed to do so, reigniting speculation about potential replacements if Biden drops out of the race.

The first debate between Biden and Trump since 2020 was filled with awkward stumbles, insults, and lies. Here are the highlights.

• House Democrats don't want to talk about Joe Biden's bad debate performance.
• A lot of that is because of political self-preservation.
• Democrats who have publicly made an issue of Biden's age before have suffered greatly as a result.

Rep. Tom Suozzi really didn't want to be there.

As the New York Democrat waited for an elevator to whisk him up to the second floor of the Capitol, Suozzi was cornered by a gaggle of reporters who wanted not just his appraisal of President Joe Biden's disastrous debate performance the previous night, but whether the congressman thought the 81-year-old president should continue to be his party's nominee. "That's beyond my pay grade," Suozzi replied. "That's not up to me."

The congressman had caught a lucky break: The elevator doors behind him were opening up, and reporters can't follow lawmakers into elevators without their consent. I was on board, headed down to the basement. Suozzi slowly backed in, apparently unaware of the direction of the elevator. "We're headed down," I told him as the doors closed on us.

"I just needed to get the fuck out of there," said Suozzi. "I'll take the stairs."

Friday morning votes are typically a sleepy affair, but this wasn't a normal Friday morning. Because Biden's campaign had pushed for the earliest general election debate on record, Congress happened to be in session, and Democratic lawmakers were being forced to answer for a performance that had clearly sent many of them into panic mode.

Roughly half of House Democrats did the prudent thing: They kept their mouths shut and avoided saying anything, either by directly declining to answer questions or insisting that they really needed to keep talking to an aide walking with them. One House Democrat, who I won't name because I can't prove it, seemed to be pretending to be on a call, dangling his iPhone slightly below his ear while sipping a coffee.

Others took the Kamala Harris route, frankly acknowledging Biden's weak performance while broadly standing behind Biden. "I don't think it was his best performance," Rep. Zoe Lofgren of California said bluntly. "Being a debater is different than being president."

Just a few were willing to express in public what they're surely feeling in private — that Biden's poor showing against former President Donald Trump is prompting a lot of "soul searching," in the words of Rep. Jared Huffman of California.

"I think there's a lot of processing that I and many of my colleagues are doing, but it wasn't a good night," said Huffman, adding that he does not want Biden to do another debate and that he was also still "processing" whether he believes Biden should be the party's nominee.

"I don't know. I don't know what happens next. I truly don't," said Rep. Greg Landsman of Ohio when asked if he's entertaining the idea of Biden not being the nominee. "You know, I think the President and his team are gonna huddle up and have a conversation, and we'll see what happens."

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Friday that he stands behind Biden, and other senior Democrats — including former Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Rep. Jim Clyburn, the man who arguably delivered Biden the nomination in 2020 — broadly did the same. Rep. Robert Garcia, a Biden campaign surrogate who traveled to the debate on Thursday, was left insisting to a large circle of skeptical reporters that Biden simply "had a raspy voice."

Despite the best efforts of the Capitol Hill press corps, no one publicly declared that Biden needed to go, despite widespread reports that they're harboring deep concerns behind closed doors.

That's because they've seen what happens to people who have made an issue out of Biden's age before.

Rep. Dean Phillips waged an entire primary challenge to Biden based on the premise that he's too old to carry on and that his colleagues know it. The Minnesota congressman ended up being marginalized by the party, and his political career may be effectively over at the end of his term. In 2019, former Housing and Urban Development Secretary Julián Castro directly attacked Biden's age and memory at a Democratic primary debate. He's been essentially locked out of the top echelons of the party ever since.

"The first Democratic politician to call for Biden to step down, it's going to end in their career," Democratic strategist Paul Begala said on CNN on Friday morning. "They may be right in the eyes of a lot of Democrats, but if you're the first one through the door, you're going to get shot. And look, I think they all know that."

Democrats who want to see Biden step aside are essentially facing a collective action problem. If they were to band together and declare that Biden needs to step aside, they may be able to have an impact. But any individual lawmaker who feels that way may be confronting political oblivion if they do it on their own.

Plus, political incentives and partisanship may simply drive them back into Biden's corner. To admit that the president needs to step aside as the party's nominee would be to cave to long-running GOP attacks on the president.

On Friday morning, Republican Rep. Chip Roy of Texas capitalized on the moment, announcing that he would put forward a resolution calling on Biden's cabinet to invoke the 25th amendment and remove him from office.

It's the exact sort of thing that may send Democrats running back into Biden's arms.

• A Tesla driver said Autopilot mistook train tracks for a road outside Sacramento.
• Local police shared a post on Facebook urging Tesla drivers to stay "vigilant" when using Autopilot.
• It's the second recent incident where Autopilot steered a Tesla toward train tracks.

A Tesla owner says he ended up in the middle of an active train track after Autopilot mistook it for a road, a California police department said in a warning to other drivers.

The alleged incident happened outside Sacramento. Police didn't share the driver's name or the condition of the car.

Woodland Police Department in California issued the warning on Wednesday in a Facebook post reminding Tesla drivers to stay "vigilant while using Tesla's Autopilot feature."

In the warning, police said the driver had given them a statement that his car had driven onto the tracks when Autopilot was engaged. The police said they hadn't verified what happened and that they were still investigating.

The post included a list of reminders for Tesla drivers using Autopilot, including to stay alert and keep their hands on the wheel. The police also said to regularly check surroundings in self-driving mode and noted that Autopilot is "not a replacement for attentive driving."

Woodland Police Department did not immediately respond to a request for comment from BI.

The reported California incident is the second in two months with drivers saying a Tesla in Autopilot mistakingly drove onto railway tracks. The last incident occurred on May 8 and almost resulted in a freight train crash, the driver said, according to a report from NBC.

A video of the incident showed the vehicle driving down a foggy road toward a moving freight train and swerving right before it collided. The driver told NBC he took responsibility and said he had become complacent with the technology, the report said.

Tesla describes Autopilot as a set of advanced driver-assistance features meant "to make driving safer and less stressful," according to its website. It notes that none of the features make the vehicle "fully autonomous or replace" the driver.

For years, Elon Musk has been saying that self-driving cars are imminent and once said Tesla Autopilot is 10 times less likely to crash than the average car.

But the transition hasn't been as seamless as Musk has suggested. Tesla recalled over 2 million vehicles in December due to concerns over Autopilot. And the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration identified in an April report more than 200 front-end crashes when Autopilot was engaged, 13 of which it said were fatal.

Tesla did not return a request for comment.

• Medical professionals are turning body bags into cooling baths to treat heat-related illnesses.
• Immersing patients in cold water quickly reduces body temperature and can prevent serious damage.
• Fire trucks and ambulances in Phoenix now carry these immersion bags as standard equipment.

This summer, medical professionals will use body bags to save lives. They're turning them into portable cooling baths to treat people with heat-related illnesses.

Last year was the hottest summer on record, with places like Phoenix reaching over 110 degrees for 31 consecutive days. There were 2,302 heat-related deaths in the US, alone, and temperatures this year could be even worse, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

To treat heat-related illnesses, emergency medical professionals in Phoneix started using modified body bags called "immersion bags," The New York Times reported. They've been working so well that they're now standard equipment for the city's fire trucks and ambulances, according to The Guardian.

Quickly submerging a heat stroke patient in icy water is one of the most effective ways to quickly bring down the body temperature.

When a person's core temperature reaches 104 degrees Fahrenheit or above, the body has difficulty cooling itself down. This can cause permanent damage to the brain, heart, and other organs.

"The sooner you can get the body cooled closer to baseline, the quicker you can resolve the symptoms as well as prevent some of the more severe complications," Sam Shen, a professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at Stanford University, told Business Insider.

Because time is so critical, medical responders will typically "cool first, transport second," meaning they will try to drop the patient's temperature to below 102.2 °F before moving them to the hospital, according to national EMS guidelines.

Since finding a suitably sized tub outdoors is difficult, some first responders have started using these leak-proof body bags as a makeshift ice bath instead.

First responders across the country are using ice-filled body bags

Several years ago, Shen had an 87-year-old patient with heat stroke. Grant Lipman, who was Shen's colleague at the time, had a background in wilderness medicine. He suggested placing the woman in a body bag filled with ice.

"It was a kind of improvised solution but based on a known technique," Shen said.

It worked well and was novel enough that Shen, Lipman, and other colleagues wrote up the treatment in a 2020 paper. Just a year later, medical professionals in Washington used the method during a heat wave.

That same year, doctors from the University of Kansas School of Medicine also started training EMS professionals to use water from fire hydrants in cooling bags. In a study, they profiled five patients who received the ice bath treatment. In one case, it only took eight minutes to effectively drop the person's body temperature.

During the last couple of years, emergency responders and doctors in Arizona, California, and Texas have also used body bag cooling baths for patients with severe heat-related symptoms.

Patients are closely monitored inside the bag

In the past, some medical professionals feared that dropping body temperature too quickly could lead to other complications, like stroke. That's why patients need careful monitoring during the treatment.

The treatment involves putting the person in the bag and submerging them up to their armpits in an ice-water slurry. Professionals monitor their vital signs and body temperature then remove them and dry them off once they're out of the danger zone. It typically takes less than 15 minutes.

Shen said there are a few reasons why the body bags make an ideal container for an ice bath in the field. "It's inexpensive. It's accessible," he said. And the medical professional can still see and touch the person in the bag. "It's just a convenient way to still monitor the patient while they're immersed in the water solution."