Heat Exhaustion & Heatstroke. (Please read carefully)

[Miggy]

Do pardon the abuse, but this is a post in our club's forum that I thought it might be good to share with everybody.

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Since we are blessed by living in South Florida and enjoy hot weather, this is a reminder for EVERYBODY on Heat Exhaustion & Heatstroke.

Please do take a moment to read through and learn the symptoms. As one that has suffered both, the first thing I will tell you is that it sneaks on you and by the time you realize you are sick (if at all) you are on your way to a hospital.

If during a match you suspect somebody is suffering from Heat Exhaustion or Heatstroke, don't be shy and pull him/her out to safety. Notify the Match Director or any Club Officer or anybody you know with first aid, paramedic, medical experience so treatment can start right then and there. Range Safety also includes accidents other than gunshot wounds and ricochets.

Heat exhaustion
Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff

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.
Signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion may come on suddenly or may develop after days of heat exposure. Possible heat exhaustion signs and symptoms include:

    * Cool, moist skin with goose bumps when in the heat
    * Heavy sweating
    * Faintness
    * Dizziness
    * Fatigue
    * Weak, rapid pulse
    * Low blood pressure upon standing
    * Muscle cramps
    * Nausea
    * Headache

If you think you're experiencing heat exhaustion:

    * Stop all activity and rest
    * Move to a cooler place
    * Drink cool water or sports drinks
Contact your doctor if your signs or symptoms worsen or if they don't improve within 60 minutes. Seek immediate medical attention if your body temperature reaches 104 F (40 C) or higher.

Heatstroke

Definition
By Mayo Clinic staff

Heatstroke is a life-threatening condition that occurs when your body temperature reaches 104 F (40 C) or higher. Heatstroke can be brought on by high environmental temperatures, by strenuous physical activity or by other conditions that raise your body temperature. Whatever the cause, you'll need immediate medical attention to prevent brain damage, organ failure or death.

Heatstroke is the escalation of two other heat-related health problems: heat cramps and heat exhaustion. In these conditions, you develop signs and symptoms that are milder than those of heatstroke. You can prevent heatstroke if you receive medical attention or take self-care steps as soon as you notice problems.
Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staff

Heatstroke symptoms include:

    * High body temperature. A body temperature of 104 F (40 C) or higher is the main sign of heatstroke.
    * A lack of sweating. In heatstroke brought on by hot weather, your skin will feel hot and dry to the touch. However, in heatstroke brought on by strenuous exercise, your skin usually feels moist.
    * Flushed skin. Your skin may turn red as your body temperature increases.
    * Rapid breathing. Your breathing may become rapid and shallow.
    * Racing heart rate and strong pulse (tachycardia). Your pulse may significantly increase because heat stress places a tremendous burden on your heart to help cool your body.
    * Headache. You may experience a throbbing headache.
    * Neurological symptoms. You may have seizures, lose consciousness, slip into a coma, hallucinate, or have difficulty speaking or understanding what others are saying.
    * Muscle cramps or weakness. Your muscles may feel tender or cramped in the early stages of heatstroke, but may later go rigid or limp.

When to see a doctor
If you think you have heat cramps or the beginning signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion, first try to cool yourself and replenish your water and salt levels. If your condition has progressed past heat cramps and heat exhaustion and you feel any of the symptoms of heatstroke, seek immediate medical attention.






Added by another shooter:

One key -- pre-hydrate.

The night before a match is by no means too soon to start drinking more than usual.

Certainly on the way to the range, and before you shoot -- drink.

Balancing electrolytes is key. Drink all Gatorade and you are likely getting too many carbs and lytes and not keeping cells wet. Drink only water and you are likely washing out lytes.

I alternate a big water and a small gatorade or sports drink. I also make sure to eat a banana on the way in. YMMV, but the concept is key.

If you don;t have to pee, you are not drinking enough.

Knees wobbly? Feeling slow or dumb? Get the shade and drink.

So says the fat guy doesn't fall out in the heat.


And yet one more comment:

Heat exhaustion and heatstroke is nothing to take lightly.
If you think you are getting heat exhaustion let someone know immediately so corrective action can be take.
Don't be dumb or macho by keeping your mouth shut and denying it is happening to you.
It can kill and does kill people.



This was the temp as I was leaving the range today around 1:15 pm

[Dale]

Good info.  Thanks for posting.

[mistertaco]

Indeed. Great post. It was only 98 here at the range with no tree cover and sand.

I tend to drink water and electrolyte pills during days like this (to keep that balance you mentioned).

[MasAyoob]

Very timely and very important.
Thanks, bro.
best,
Mas

[Aaron L]

Great info, thanks for the posting. I'm a big fan of the Camelback Hydration System, I use it when I'm out walking in this Texas heat. As a matter of fact I'll be using it here very shortly.

Aaron

[Gail]

Thanks Miggy, that's a great Public Service announcement. We saw some of that last week at the IN state match, including myself, who left the match nauseous and head-achy. I gotta remember that Diet Pepsi/Coke is not hydration. My friends in AZ mix the Gatorade and water 50/50, that seems to be a good idea.

Gail

[SirBrass]

Excellent PSA.

Here in the desert, we have a dry heat (yes, this is often used as a joke too, I know, but this isn't one of those times), which is not as severe to the body as a moist heat at the same temperature.

HOWEVER, it is easier to succumb to heatstroke.  This is because of the drier climate.  In this climate, you sweat and it WORKS, and the sweat evaporates.  So, it's a benefit since you can tell if you're sweating, sweating more than usual, or have stopped sweating.  A major DOWNSIDE is that you dehydrate MUCH faster if you are not used to being in this kind of dry heat.  In a humid climate, your sweat sticks around due to the ambient air being heavily saturated already, and thus your sweat evaporates slower.  You also sweat a little less.

There have been several times when I have had to get out of the sun and immediately begin to rehydrate as I am hot, and a short while before I was sweating but now am not.  That's my "danger danger, James Robertson!" (yes, mild humor intended) signal.

A week ago, at the first of the 2 Pro-SB1070 rallies held at the park across the street from the capital, I was standing in the shade talking with folks.  The temp in the sun was approaching 110*F, and we had several thousand people gathered.  That kind of heat is not all that unusual (just a little early for it).  Well, it was for some folks.  An elderly gentleman standing in the shade with us simply DROPPED.  Thankfully he didn't crack his skull open, and one of the folks at the rally who was nearby was also an EMT, and a police officer was nearby as well and we called him over, so the elderly gentleman got medical attention very quickly (since a call for paramedics from an officer over his radio gets into the system a little quicker than dialing 911).  He simply had heat exhaustion.  He was from California and not entirely used to how fast your body dries out down here.

The nasty trick of our weather is that you don't FEEL as heat-oppressed as in humid climates, but you dehydrate MUCH faster if you are not constantly drinking fluids.

May I also remind folks to not just be drinking water, but to be taking in electrolytes!  You lose these by the truckload just as fast as you lose water in your sweat, especially if exerting yourself athletically (which you do in IDPA to an extent due to the adrenaline rush of that timer going off and the timed competition.... it gets your heart rate up and the blood pumping).

I recommend a 1::3 or 1::4 gatorade (or powerade) to water ratio for continuous drinking.  I'm talking the liquid stuff, not the powered kind.  It tastes weak, but if you are constantly taking sips every few minutes or so, it keeps you properly hydrated in the heat.

So, stay hydrated, and keep drinking fluids, not JUST water, ALL DAY even when you don't think you need to.  In the dangerous heat, the mechanism which tells you "I'm thirsty" is an indicator that you're already dangerously low on water (much like the gas light in your car).

A good indicator of proper hydration in the heat is this:  you're sweating regularly, you are regularly having to relieve your bladder, and your urine is light in color.

STAY AWAY FROM CAFFEINE OR CARBONATED BEVERAGES!  Caffeine is a diuretic essentially, and the dark cola is no bueno for keeping hydrated.

Also, as far as electrolytes are concerned, stock up on the carbs at least the day before.  This is as important to keeping well in the sun as water is, as I mentioned before.  Even when well hydrated, if your electrolytes are low, you're not going to be in good shape and can still succumb to the sun.  The symptoms for that are a more-severe-than-normal energy lack, and sudden movements cause dizziness.  It means your body simply is lacking the immediate energy necessary to run.  Once again, in the dry climate, this stuff gets sucked away faster than you'd realize.

Miggy covered recovery pretty well, and I can attest to it being proper as I learned as a kid to start loving plain 'ole water after I got heat exhaustion at the 1997 BSA National Jamboree the first day (90-some % humidity and 102*F).  Nausea and migraine-headache in addition to being majorly flushed and dizzy.  The older scouts got me to the med tent when they realized what was happening to me (and that I hadn't been drinking my water.... yeah, I was a little idiot, b/c it's not like I hadn't been warned).

[Larry Piekarski]

I want add to what Gail said about the Indiana State Match. On Friday, the staff shot the match. Friday was very clear and the sun was much more intense. There was one stage that you started at P1, shot some bad guys, and moved to P2. One of our staffers went to P1, shot and then just stood there. The SO asked what was going on the the staffer said "I think I am supposed to do something, but I don't remember." Luckily, he was a nurse. He recognized something was wrong, (though I don't think he was in his right mind to know exactly what) went to the clubhouse and started drinking water. My wife sat with him for quite a while. He is fine, but the thing that struck me is that he was fine, and then just more or less shut down.

[NS2]

***BUMP***

It's time to review this information again.

Have a great Summer!