HEAT EXHAUSTION/ STROKE --- Symptoms/Treatment

[fed-up]

I am putting this in GD in the hopes that anyone that needs this info will find it

http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/heat-exhaustion/DS01046

Heat exhaustion

ARTICLE SECTIONS

Definition
Symptoms
Causes
Risk factors
When to seek medical advice
Complications
Treatments and drugs
Prevention

Definition
Heat exhaustion is a condition whose symptoms may include heavy sweating and a rapid pulse, a result of your body overheating. It's one of three heat-related syndromes, with heat cramps being the mildest and heatstroke being the most severe.

Causes of heat exhaustion include exposure to high temperatures, particularly when combined with high humidity, and strenuous physical activity. Without prompt treatment, heat exhaustion can progress to heatstroke, a life-threatening condition. Fortunately, heat exhaustion is preventable.




http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-heat-exhaustion/FA00020

Heat exhaustion: First aid
Heat exhaustion is one of the heat-related syndromes, which range in severity from mild heat cramps to heat exhaustion to potentially life-threatening heatstroke.

Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion often begin suddenly, sometimes after excessive exercise, heavy perspiration and inadequate fluid intake. Signs and symptoms resemble those of shock and may include:

Feeling faint or dizzy
Nausea
Heavy sweating
Rapid, weak heartbeat
Low blood pressure
Cool, moist, pale skin
Low-grade fever
Heat cramps
Headache
Fatigue
Dark-colored urine
If you suspect heat exhaustion:

Get the person out of the sun and into a shady or air-conditioned location.
Lay the person down and elevate the legs and feet slightly.
Loosen or remove the person's clothing.
Have the person drink cool water.
Cool the person by spraying or sponging him or her with cool water and fanning.
Monitor the person carefully. Heat exhaustion can quickly become heatstroke.
If fever greater than 102 F (38.9 C), fainting, confusion or seizures occur, dial 911 or call for emergency medical assistance.



http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/first-aid-heatstroke/FA00019


Heatstroke: First aid
Heatstroke is the most severe of the heat-related problems, often resulting from exercise or heavy work in hot environments combined with inadequate fluid intake.

Young children, older adults, people who are obese and people born with an impaired ability to sweat are at high risk of heatstroke. Other risk factors include dehydration, alcohol use, cardiovascular disease and certain medications.

What makes heatstroke severe and potentially life-threatening is that the body's normal mechanisms for dealing with heat stress, such as sweating and temperature control, are lost. The main sign of heatstroke is a markedly elevated body temperature — generally greater than 104 F (40 C) — with changes in mental status ranging from personality changes to confusion and coma. Skin may be hot and dry — although if heatstroke is caused by exertion, the skin may be moist.

Other signs and symptoms may include:

Rapid heartbeat
Rapid and shallow breathing
Elevated or lowered blood pressure
Cessation of sweating
Irritability, confusion or unconsciousness
Feeling dizzy or lightheaded
Headache
Nausea
Fainting, which may be the first sign in older adults
If you suspect heatstroke:

Move the person out of the sun and into a shady or air-conditioned space.
Dial 911 or call for emergency medical assistance.
Cool the person by covering him or her with damp sheets or by spraying with cool water. Direct air onto the person with a fan or newspaper.
Have the person drink cool water, if he or she is able.

[Speck Tater]

1. And for those of us in ORYGUN; the symptoms of frost bite and hypothermia...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frostbite
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypothermia

[Warpy]

2. I know what I do when I start to feel it.

I go soak my head. Really. The soaked hair starts to dry and cools me off through evaporation.

I also start drinking cool water. I also stay the hell out of the sun.

The yard work can bloody wait.

[havocmom]

11. cold on inner thigh (femorial arteries - LOTS of blood in there) helps fast too

Also, if one HAS to work outside in the heat, water mixed with orange juice and a pinch of Morton Lite Salt can help keep you from keeling over. The hit of a little potassium and fruit sugar (just a little juice) can really help. Trick I used when I lived in Tucson. Learned it from Martina Navratilova on a talk show. Have helped several people with the nasty stuff.

Take heat seriously, folks. It can kill real fast. If you are very hot then suddenly start to feel much better, check and see if you are still sweating. IF you are dry and feel better but still in heat, GET HELP IMMEDIATELY. There is a euphoria that can set in with some of us just before heat stroke hits full on. It is dangerous.

[Skittles]

3. really important: CALL 911 IMMEDIATELY

don't just assume it is heatstroke - this happened to a friend of mine - he collapsed and it was assumed to be heatsroke so the friends who were with him him in the shower to cool him down - some time went by before 911 was called - he actually had a brain aneursim and passed away in the hospital after a couple weeks without ever waking up. I don't know if it would have made a difference but I with 911 had been called sooner. :(

[Liberal Veteran]

4. FOX NEWS EXHAUSTION --- Symptoms/Treatment

Signs and symptoms of Fox News exhaustion often begin suddenly, sometimes after mere seconds of accidentally tuning into Fox News and inadequate information intake. Signs and symptoms resemble those of shock and may include:

Feeling dizzy from the spin
Nausea from the sight of Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity
Vomiting from frequent appearances by Ann Coulter or Michelle Malkin
Rapid eye rolling at the slant that passes for news
High blood pressure from the lies spewed on a regular basis
Feverishly searching for the remote to change the channel
Headache from all those gaudy graphics on the screen
Fatigue from the mind-numbing stupidity of Fox News anchors
Urge to defecate
Randomly yelling obscenities at the television screen.

If you suspect Fox News exhaustion:

Get the person out from in front of the television or onto a station that has real news such as BBC or the internet.
Turn the radio on to Air America or Sirius Left if possible. If no radio is available, Free Speech TV is an adequate substitute.
Have the person drink lots of booze to induce forgetfulness of the Fox News viewing event.
Monitor the person carefully. Fox News exhaustion can quickly become Fox News Zombification.
If victim starts spouting right wing talking points, begins agreeing with Sean Hannity, or tells you how hot Ann Coulter, dial 911 or call for emergency medical assistance and ask them to perform ACPR (Anti-Conservative Point-by-point Reeducation).

[fed-up]

5. you forgot urge (or actually) yelling obscenities at faux "newscaster" :) nt

[Liberal Veteran]

7. Added.

:D

[area51]

6. lol. (n/t)

[ColbertWatcher]

8. Don't forget the pets...

...Humane Society of the United States says:

Never leave your pets in a parked car. On a warm day, temperatures inside a vehicle can rise rapidly to dangerous levels. On an 85 degree day, for example, the temperature inside a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102 degrees within ten minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees.

Shade and water are a must. Anytime your pet is outside, make sure he or she has protection from heat and sun (a doghouse does not provide relief from heat) and plenty of fresh, cool water. Heat stroke can be fatal for pets as well as people.

Limit exercise on hot days. Take care when exercising your pet. Adjust intensity and duration of exercise in accordance with the temperature. On very hot days, limit exercise to early morning or evening hours, and be especially careful with pets with white-colored ears who are more susceptible to skin cancer, and short-nosed pets. Asphalt gets very hot and can burn your pet's paws.

Recognize the signs of heatstroke. In case of an emergency, it's important to be able to identify the symptoms of heat stress caused by exposure to extreme temperatures. When in doubt, contact your veterinarian immediately. Some signs of heatstroke are: heavy panting, glazed eyes, a rapid heartbeat, restlessness, excessive thirst, lethargy, fever, dizziness, lack of coordination, profuse salivation, vomiting, a deep red or purple tongue, and unconsciousness. If the animal shows symptoms of heatstroke, take steps immediately to gradually lower her body temperature and contact your veterinarian as soon as possible.

Follow these tips, and it could save her life:
Move the animal into the shade or an air-conditioned area.
Apply ice packs or cold towels to her head, neck and chest or run cool (not cold) water over her.
Let her drink small amounts of cool water or lick ice cubes.
Take her directly to a veterinarian.

[dana_b]

12. thanks

My dog had a hard time yesterday. She was panting rapidly, eyes glazed and salivating more than usual. She was inside with me but we don't have a/c. I ended up throwing her in the tub with cool water a couple of times and made ice cubes with a little apple juice and squash baby food. She did fine after that. My daughter brought home a thing called a "Cool Bed III" (she works at a pet food store. You fill it up with cool water and it makes a small water bed for the animal. Once I got her to get on it she loved it! She stayed on it a good part of the day today and seemed much happier.

[ColbertWatcher]

15. I was reading some posts about...

...other people's heat wave experiences and it reminded me of CA's Year of Enron and how we had a lot of black out and brown outs.

And I'm watching the cat and kitten thinking about what would happen if the electricity went out and what I'd have to do.

Everyone else can cope, but what about the critters?

We people can go off to the mall, but our pets have to stay home.

So, I figured I should find something about caring for pets and hope it would start a conversation in which other people (like yourself) would add their own stuff to it.

Thank you, I'm going to have to look into getting a couple of those beds!

[tbyg52]

18. We nearly lost one of ours.

We think she got blocked outside the dog door by one of our other dogs. (Not on purpose - that dog just likes to stay near the door, and is large and difficult to get to move, especially by a smaller dog. We don't leave the dog door open during the day anymore.....)

When we got home and found her, we dumped her in cool water, which the vet says is what saved her.

If this happens to yours, be sure and have their kidney function checked a few days later - apparently that sometimes operates like a time bomb. Ours had to spend the weekend in the hospital getting her system flushed out, but fortunately she is fine now. (We're considerably poorer, but that's OK.)

[fed-up]

9. Cooling Centers in SF Bay Area

awesome concept for those w/out A/C

http://www.sanjoseca.gov/HeatAlert_CoolingCenters.asp

don't know if these are all open, so check them out first
http://www.ktvu.com/news/16279285/detail.html?rss=fran&psp=news
UNDATED -- With record-setting temperatures hitting the Bay Area Thursday, county and city officials are notifying residents that cooling centers are available throughout the region.

The city of Sunnyvale announced that a cooling center will be operating at the city's senior center, 550 E. Remington Drive, between 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. Thursday and 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. Friday.

In addition, a list of potential places to cool down throughout Santa Clara County is available at www.211scc.org/disasterinformation.htm, however hours vary and not all centers are open, said county Emergency Services Manager Miguel Gray.

Contra Costa Health Services has also provided a list of places where residents may go to cool off Monday through Friday, which can be viewed at www.cchealth.org/topics/heat/cool--locations.php.

San Mateo County today announced that a cooling hot line has been activated for those needing assistance: [phone]. Cooling centers are available in cities throughout the county and will remain open until 8 p.m. Thursday.

The centers will be open in Atherton, East Palo Alto, Redwood City, Woodside, Portola Valley, Belmont, Burlingame, Hillsborough, Millbrae, Daly City, San Bruno and South San Francisco. Each city has public facilities with air conditioning open to anyone who needs a place to cool off.
In Petaluma, city officials are inviting those looking to escape the heat to go to the Petaluma Library, the Petaluma Community Center or the Petaluma Senior Center.
The city of Livermore is advising residents to stop by one of the city's libraries or the Robert Livermore Community Center, 4444 East Ave., to escape the heat.
The National Weather Service has issued excessive heat watches, excessive heat warnings and heat advisories for the expected prolonged period of dangerously hot temperatures throughout the Bay Area.

[dysfunctional press]

10. i generally sweat like nothing i've ever seen before...

it was actually pleasant here today, sunny and around 80, with a nice breeze...but i went through 3 complete changes of clothes from working in the yard & garden. every time i came in, i was completely drenched with perspiration.

[Breeze54]

14. You should've got out of the sun and got water and stopped all activity.

Your body was telling you that things were NOT OK!

Take care of yourself.

[dysfunctional press]

16. i wasn't in the sun, and i was drinking plenty...

i just have a very...sweaty...metabolism. i'm not fat, my blood pressure is not a problem, but i do tend to sweat a lot more than pretty much anyone else i know.

[Breeze54]

13. Thanks for caring! - I've needed this info a few times!

:yourock:

And this info is much appreciated!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup:



:kick: & Recommended

[pacalo]

17. Best product on the market for preventing heatstroke is FLORIDA WATER.

A 7-oz. bottle of Florida Water can be purchased at the drug store or online. Fill a small ice chest to about the half-way mark with water, add ice, then mix in about an ounce of Florida Water. Dip in a towel, wring it out, then put around your neck while mowing the lawn, gardening, etc., & it'll prevent your body from overheating. It's really a miracle product.

[Wilms]

19. Check up on the elders.

Thanks for doing this.