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Summer may be winding down, but the warm weather isn’t necessarily going anywhere just yet, and we could still have some extremely hot days ahead. Heatstroke can be deadly and it happens when your body temperature rises rapidly. Knowing the warning signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses is the first step to preventing them. Let Tim enlighten you on how to stay cool in the hazardous energy that comes along with warming temperatures.
Welcome back to Safe Talk with Safe Start. I'm Tim Page Bodarf. As many of you know, I live in Arizona. So summer heat is just part of living here in the desert. However, heat-related illnesses can impact us no matter where we live in North America. Before we get to the dog days of summer, I thought it would be helpful to discuss those illnesses here today in this podcast. I've also placed several resources in the show notes. One, an article from Baylor College of Medicine, and two, a poster from OSHA that you can share with all of your employees. Well, there are a number of heat-related illnesses, such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion. Today, I really want to focus in on heat stroke, which can kill you or even severely damage your organs. So what are the symptoms and more importantly how to prevent them?
Let's take a look at the latter first. You'll all heard this before. Drink plenty of water or sports drinks to replace your electrolytes. Do you wear loose fitting and light color clothes, preferably that are breathable? Wear sunscreen, preferably SPF thirty or higher. Take plenty of breaks, and if you can get inside where there's nice cool air conditioning, or even take breaks in a shaded area if you're working outdoors. So heat stroke, it often happens as a progression for milder heat-related illnesses like heat cramps or heat syncope, fading, and even heat exhaustion. But it can strike, even if you have no previous signs of heat injury.
Now, what to do if you suspect heat stroke in other people? Heat stroke occurs when the body reaches a core body temperature above 104 Fahrenheit or 40 degrees Celsius. So fainting may be the first sign of heat stroke. Other symptoms might include throbbing, headache, dizziness, even lightheadedness, might be a lack of sweating despite the heat, might have red, hot, and or dry skin. There could be muscle weakness or cramps, maybe even nausea and vomiting. You might have a rapid heartbeat, which might be either strong or weak, rapid or even shallow breathing. There could be even behavioral changes such as confusion, fogginess, disorientation or staggering, and even seizures. So heat stroke can kill or cause damage to the brain and other internal organs. Now, although heat stroke mainly affects the elderly, it also takes a toll on healthy young athletes. So heat stroke is the most serious form of heat injury and is considered a medical emergency.
If you suspect that someone has a heat stroke, call 911 immediately and give first aid until paramedics arrive. So while you're waiting for the paramedics to arrive, initiating first aid is the first step. So move that person to an air conditioned environment or at least a cool shady area, which is much cooler than the area they were exposed to, and remove any unnecessary clothing. If possible, take that person's core body temperature and initiate first aid to cool it down to about 100 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit. If you have no thermometers available, don't hesitate still to initiate that first aid. There are several cooling strategies and try these out if on for size. Fan air over the patient while wetting their skin with water from maybe a sponge or a garden hose. I know I say garden hose, but in just you remember back in the 80s when you used to be able to drink from a garden hose? No, I'm not saying you do that here, but at least you could still wet them down using a garden hose. Apply maybe ice packs to the patient's armpits in the growing area, maybe the neck and the back. You have to know that these areas, they're rich with blood vessels or close to the skin, and cooling them might reduce the body temperature. You can also immerse that patient into a shower, a tub, or maybe some air, some area with a co with cool water that's pulled up. If the person is young and healthy and suffered heat stroke, and maybe they did it while exercising vigorously, what's known is exertional heat stroke, and you can use an ice bath to help cool the body. Try not to use ice for older patients or even young children, and patients with chronic illness or anyone whose heat stroke occurred with vigorous or without vigorous exercise. Doing that, it can be dangerous. Now, heat stroke is most likely to affect older people who live in apartments or homes that don't have air conditioning or good airflow. If you know someone who is elderly and lives alone, check on them continually during those hot periods, especially during the summer. Other high-risk groups include people of any age who don't drink enough water, might have chronic diseases, or maybe drink excessive amounts of alcohol. If emergency response is delayed, you'll have to call the hospital emergency room for additional instructions.
So heat stroke is strongly related to the heat index, which is a measurement of how you feel or how hot you feel. And of course, when the effects of relative humidity and air temperature are combined, you put it together, you've got heat index. So relative humidity of 60% or more, it hampers sweat evaporation, which of course it'll hinder your body's ability to cool itself. The risk of heat-related illness dramatically increases when the heat index climbs to 90 degrees or more. So it's important, especially during heat waves, to pay attention to the reported heat index. And also remember that exposure to full sunshine can increase the reported heat index by 15 degrees. Now, there were several times during the summer in the last couple of years over the pandemic that, you know, I did go out and golf. And that summertime exposure, you could feel it right away. So here in Arizona, when it's 115 degrees up, probably we wouldn't recommend being out in the middle of the sun day. Um, not saying you can't go out on Sunday, but you know, if the sun exposure is at the tip top of the day, you know, 110 degrees, 105 degrees, it doesn't matter what it is, you're gonna feel it. For those of you that live in an urban area, you may be especially prone to develop heat stroke during a prolonged heat wave, and particularly if there are stagnant air uh atmospheric conditions and even poor air quality in what is known as the heat island effect. Now, asphalt and concrete, they do store heat during the day and only gradually release it at night, and that results in higher nighttime temperatures.
So there's some other risk factors that are included with heat-related illnesses. So take for example age. If it's a children up to age four and even adults over age 65, they're the ones that are particularly vulnerable because they adjust to heat more slowly than other people. Some people might have health conditions that contribute. Heart conditions, lung, kidney, obesity, underweight. You've heard all of these. Could be diabetes, mental illness, sickle cell trait, something wrong with your liver. Also, those who've suffered a heat stroke are more susceptible to the impact of the heat as well. What about medications? Medications that include antihistamines, diapills, diuretics, sedatives, tranquilizers, stimulants. I say tranquilizers because we know a few that's taken some of those. And of course, maybe seizure medications, anticonvulsants, heart, blood pressure medications, beta blockers, you name it. You need to check with your doctor to see if your health conditions and medications are likely to affect your ability to cope or even repair yourself with extreme heat and humidity. Even illegal drugs like cocaine and methamphetamine, they're also associated with increased risk of heat stroke. If you know or know of anybody, or if you yourself are experiencing these types of symptoms, heat stroke requires immediate emergency treatment. Untreated heat stroke, it will quickly damage your brain, your heart, your kidneys, and your muscles. The damage actually worsens the longer treatment is delayed, you know, increasing your risk of serious complication or death. So home treatment isn't enough for heat stroke. If you have signs or symptoms of heat stroke, you gotta seek emergency medical help. Alright. So that pretty much concludes the basics of heat stroke. But don't forget the resources that are in the show notes, and consider sharing this podcast at an upcoming safety meeting. Even the weekend warriors that are tackling yard work, they can get something out of this. On behalf of the team here at Safe Talk with SafeStart, I am Tim Page Bodarf, and we say thank you for attending, thank you for listening, thank you for downloading, and thank you that you thank you for everything you've done for this podcast and for our company, Safe Start. We appreciate all of you. We'll see you down the road. Take care.
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