I am sometimes amazed at the number of blankets placed on a patient to try to keep them warm during transportation (as many as 5 - 6!).

In the past, I have worked at a hospital that did a study of how to keep our patients warm while being transported on gurneys. In summary, they found that by placing a bed-sheet on the patient retains much more heat than a blanket alone (tighter weave of the fabric?). So, the recommendation of the study suggested placing a warm blanket on the patient which is then covered by a bed-sheet. Simple.

I'm sure we can cut way down on laundry costs by being a little smarter about how we warm our patients.