Heat Injuries

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Ok I know this has been beat into the ground but we are on our 5th week of 100+ and too many to include myself have either bitten the bullet or almost as in my case bit the bullet.
I quit sweating, I begin to feel my heart rate fluctuate, I became dizzy and afterwards when i began to recover i had a splitting headache. I also had not eaten enough that day in addition to dehydration which compounded the issue. I drank alot but it wasnt enough just to drink. The heat and lack of wind and direct sunlight along with manual labor for 6hrs did me in. I was able to self diagnose at this point which is funny cause I was to dumb to before everything hit. Be careful out there folks.
Survival is everyday


First Aid for Heat Exhaustion

[protus]

wanna know why i havent been active the last 2 weeks.
Heat injury.
Ive had 3 semi good ones the last 4 years.this one finally kicked my butt.

this one, i didnt see it till it was to late.
stopped sweating, cooled off. Then when back out, still hydrating but not enough. I got distant/tired , flushed, and caught myself telling a co worker " ohh im ok.."
at that point i went and sat down, i was getting cold /clamy sweats on my face but no where else.out came a fan and some cold rags with h20 on them to my core and kneck.
2 hours later a cold 30 min shower, and few liters of h20 i was doing ok. BUt my BPM's wouldnt come down.. my stomach was all a mess.
My electrolytes were so messed up, it took 48+ hours for me to even sorta feel semi normal. Which is not my norm.
long story short...hydrate.......hydrate...hydrate....

even today. It was 100+ ..i drank all day. only went to the bath room twice....ive drank 2+ liters so far since 6......and still not hydrated enough imho.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

If you aint able to pee every hour or so you may not be hydrating enough! You watch yourself, we still got 6wks or so left!

[Grand58742]

And the key is electrolytes. Sometimes we all get enough water, but we don't replenish the salts and other items our body needs to keep functioning. Eating regularly, getting plenty of fluids and getting the salts back into your body is essential for the process of keeping hydrated.

A good rule of thumb we used downrange was 1 bottle of sports drink per every four bottles of water. Seemed to always work for me.

[EX121]

From a diagnostic point of view. If the person has flushed, red wet skin that's heat exhaustion. If they are flushed, or pale with dry hot skin that's heat stroke a very serious emergency. Ditto on the sports drink, I like to mix them half & half with water, it just tastes better to me. Also frequent salty snacks help. Urine should be clear & copious.
we have been ahving just to opposite up here no heat. It was 38 at 5 am this morning, and I don't live up in the mountains. Good luck down there.

[monkeybird]

I had a heat exhaustion/heat stroke in the early 80's when I went to Chichen Itza and climbed the Pyramids. I was the only one from our cruise ship who did. (I was young and ready to challenge anything). Unfortunately, I suffered a heat stoke that took days to get over. Believe or not, back them there was no refreshment stand at the site and the tour had no water. I simply collapsed under a tree and tried to remove my clothes. My husband had to hold my hand to keep me from doing so. I felt dizzy, disoriented and would have done anything to have obtained relief.

It took several days to even get back to what was reasonability normal. Anyway, heat stroke is a serious medical condition. Apparently, the heat regular in the brain gets reset in a large number of cases of heat stroke. To this day, I'm very sensitive to the heat, and tolerate it poorly. I also go no where without a bottle of water on my person. NEVER.

This is a serious issue for the elderly and children.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

It was 38 at 5 am this morning

Wow, sure need a little of that. Reverse them numbers for us @ 5am. I didnt run this morning, too run down to take that heat radiating back up at me. I'm gonna be out and about being a tourist tomorrow so i'm taking it easy today.

[Cimarron]

A week and a half ago I was 4hrs. into my shift when a manager came and got me. The A/C failed (again) on the retail side and the girls were pulling chocolate bars like crazy..

Anyways, me, and a security officer go up on the roof and I open up the roof top unit and start diagnosing. I'm not thinking of anything except the unit in front of me and what needs to be done. Later when a maintenance man comes up I stood up from a squating position to speak to him and the world starts spinning.

I have worked out in the heat for years and have had a lot of training on heat exhaustion/overexposure. But, I just was not paying attention.

I notice I am not sweating very much and when I put my hand to my head and start wobbeling the guard asks "what's the matter" I tell him what's happening he replies "Put this thing back together you're going down now"..

I went from a 75 degree conditioned building to 120 degree rooftop standing next to a whole lotta sheetmetal reflecting all that heat.

Anyhoo, I got down and the guard and I both got hydrated and cooled off.

I would hate to admit I suffered something like this because I wasn't paying attention..

[Matt In Oklahoma]

IT'S SO HOT AND DRY IN OKLAHOMA....

....the birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground.

....the trees are whistling for the dogs.

....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

....hot water comes from both taps.

....you can make sun tea instantly.

....you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.

....the temperature drops below 95 F (35 C) and you feel a little chilly.

....you discover that in July it only takes two fingers to steer your car.

....you discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

....you actually burn your hand opening the car door.

....you break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30A.M.

....your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death"?

....you realize that asphalt has a liquid stage.

....the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter.

....the cows are giving evaporated milk.

....farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

[Rmplstlskn]

If we ever lost A/C nationwide, I don't know how many people would die... We're just not used to this...

Rmpl

[Matt In Oklahoma]

If we ever lost A/C nationwide, I don't know how many people would die... We're just not used to this...Rmpl

More than I care to think about because then the rodents move in and disease spreads.

[claymore]

Mich. was hot but nothing like what some of you've got. All of you watch out for yourselves; you're all in our prayers.

[Javin]

IT'S SO HOT AND DRY IN OKLAHOMA....

....the birds have to use potholders to pull the worms out of the ground.

....the trees are whistling for the dogs.

....the best parking place is determined by shade instead of distance.

....hot water comes from both taps.

....you can make sun tea instantly.

....you learn that a seat belt buckle makes a pretty good branding iron.

....the temperature drops below 95 F (35 C) and you feel a little chilly.

....you discover that in July it only takes two fingers to steer your car.

....you discover that you can get sunburned through your car window.

....you actually burn your hand opening the car door.

....you break into a sweat the instant you step outside at 7:30A.M.

....your biggest bicycle wreck fear is, "What if I get knocked out and end up lying on the pavement and cook to death"?

....you realize that asphalt has a liquid stage.

....the potatoes cook underground, so all you have to do is pull one out and add butter.

....the cows are giving evaporated milk.

....farmers are feeding their chickens crushed ice to keep them from laying boiled eggs.

Originally being from Oklahoma, it's actually a little scary how many of those aren't even jokes...

[Javin]

And the key is electrolytes.

We need Brawndo.

[Matt In Oklahoma]

Time to revive this as it was 104 and the next few days are expected to rise in degrees and a short upbeat in the cardio in direct sunlight can turn ugly quick

This is an excellent blog entry on the topic as well

https://www.survivalandpreparednessforum.com/entry.php?6-Heat-Emergencies

[QUOTE=Matt In Oklahoma;19409]
First Aid for Heat Exhaustion