How to Treat People With a Heat Stroke

Heat stroke takes place when a person's body temperature climbs to an abnormally elevated level. This occurs when the body is exposed to extreme heat or humidity during physical activity usually in the hot sun. Treat heat stroke quickly, since the body is unable to normally disperse the heat and sometimes becomes dehydrated. This can cause physical and sometimes neurological damage to the body.

Things You'll Need

• Shaded area
• Phone to call 911
• Thermometer
• Water
• Ice packs

Instructions

Treat Heat Stroke

1. Administer immediate treatment. Victims of heat stroke must receive help as soon as possible to avoid permanent damage to their internal organs or the brain.

2. Cool down the person by finding a shaded area. Take the person under a tree or to a rest area. You want to enable air to hit the person's skin. Remove as much of the patient's clothing as you can.

3. Apply cool or lukewarm water to the skin. Find water wherever you can. It can be from a drinking bottle or other source.

4. The main reason a person gets heat stroke is the body cannot effectively get rid of heat fast enough through sweating. You want to fan the body to cool it. The body normally cools itself but under abnormally hot conditions, it cannot.

5. Place bags of ice or cooler packs under a victim's armpits and groin area. If you do not have these items, use towels (or another fabric item) soaked in cool water.

6. Monitor the victim's body temperature. While still helping the person keep cool, you need to establish what his body temperature is. Take the temperature with a thermometer. It should drop to a range of 101 to 102 degrees F.

Tips & Warnings

• Understand that heat stroke can be more present in certain segments of the population. Most people who fall prey to heat stroke are the elderly, infants, athletes, and outdoor workers. Heat stroke is more prevalent in those who take certain medications and typically suffer from health conditions including heart or lung illnesses.

• Hot weather activity should be accompanied by ways to cool the body and prevent heat stroke like carrying a water bottle. A person suffering from heat stroke can have body temperatures up to 106 degrees F.

• You must call emergency services to help treat a victim of heat stroke. Do as much as you can to help the person until emergency personnel arrives. The emergency worker can even instruct you on what to do until she arrives.