How to Prevent Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

It is important during the summer months to have a good understanding of heat exhaustion and heat stroke in order to prevent the over 600 annual deaths in the United States each year.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Knowledge of the heat index
• Plenty of electrolyte filled fluids
• Hot summer days

1. The first step toward prevention of heat exhaustion and heat stroke is knowing about the heat index. The heat index is to heat like the wind chill factor is to cold and tells you how hot it will feel when the relative humidity is taken into account.

2. Learn about the heat index for the day from your local weather source whether television or internet. The higher the heat index, the more risk there is for the development of the symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. A heat index above 105 is potentially dangerous.

3. Adjust your outdoor activities accordingly. Can they be done at a cooler portion of the day such as early morning or at dusk? Can they be done in the shade or even moved indoors? Can your outdoor activities be postponed?

4. If you must be outside on a very hot day, prepare accordingly. Have plenty of fluids available especially fluids with electrolytes. As you perspire, you lose lots of natural salts, sodium and potassium, which need to be replenished with a fluid like Gatorade. Wear light colored clothing which reflects sunlight.

5. Know the initial symptoms of heat exhaustion. The skin initial is warm and red, sweating profusely in an attempt to dissipate heat from the body. As you become dehydrated, you may stop sweating as the blood vessels in the skin constrict. You may feel nauseated and light-headed like you are going to pass out. You may become confused.

6. At the first sign of symptoms of heat exhaustion, it is important to cease being outdoors, replenish fluids, and cool off. You may end up needing to call medical personnel for emergency medical treatment.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure to stay hydrated during your outdoor activities. A person can easily sweat 1 liter of fluid per hour. If you don't have to go to the restroom, you are drinking enough.
• Don't underestimate the severity of heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Each year over 600 Americans die from heat related illness.

Resources

• My personal experience with heat exhaustion

[evgnspaces]

on 8/20/2009 Heat exhaustion and heat stroke can be a real problem in the summer. People who move to a new locality and climate need to take time to acclimate especially if they work outdoors.

[mvalora]

on 8/19/2009 Good tips!

[mizzy]

on 8/9/2009 A very helpful aticle and well written too.

[kidgas]

on 8/4/2009 kjs, So sorry to hear that. Hope this info helps out for next time.

[kjshannon]

on 8/4/2009 i had to deal with heat exhaustion the hard way. thanks