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Preventing heat injuries
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Heat cramps
Heat cramps is caused from lost of sodium (salt) due to excessive sweating.
Symptoms
At first the signs are quiet subtle. You will note that you have been sweating excessively for an extended period of time. Next step will be that you are starting to get muscle fatigue, and muscle discomfort. This discomfort is going to progress to increasing muscle cramping in arms, legs and abdomen.
Treatment
Medical intervention is needed at this time. Get in the shade. Lie down, preferably on an elevated surface.
Take small frequent sips of water. Do not drink to fast. Add some salt, but no more than a teaspoon of salt to a quart of water. This should not be repeated afterwards.
Loosen the clothing, but don't completely remove all the clothing. Sprinkle water over the clothing. This will promote evaporation and cooling.
Allow time for rest and rehydration prior to continuing on. If time isn't an issue wait for the heat of the day to pass and then progressing on from there.
Heat Exhaustion
If lose of body fluid and salt from the body continue to increase, you will soon face heat exhaustion.
Symptoms
Signs of heat exhaustion include symptoms from heat cramps. Plus you will start to experience headaches, mental confusion, irritability, excessive sweating, weakness, dizziness, pale, moist, cold and clammy skin.
Treatment
Immediately get in the shade. Lie down if at all possible on something that will allow air to mover all around the body. Loosen all clothing, wet clothing to promote cooling through evaporation. Be alert, not to cause you to shiver. Shivering will cause an increase in body heat. Drink small frequent sips of water and rest.
Heat Stroke
The final and most dangerous of the three heat casualties is heat stroke. From now on we have to talk about the patient or the victim.
Symptoms
Heat stroke symptoms include all of the symptoms for heat cramp and heat exhaustion, but in worsening degrees.
Heat stroke is characterized by a drastic loss of sweat, resulting in the body's inability to cool itself. The victim will also have sever sodium lose. You will notice the salt stains on the victim’s shirt as the shirt begin to dry since the body in not able to produce anymore sweat. The salt marks will be noted as slightly white lines on clothing.
The skin will become dry, bright red, hot to the touch and will feel gritty from the dried salt on the skin. The headache will become more sever. The victim may vomiting, sever muscle spasms making the victim unable to continue to move on. The heart rate and respiratory rate will be drastically elevated. The victim will be confused or even unconscious.
This is a true medical emergency and the patient must be cooled quickly in order to prevent brain damage or even death.
Treatment
Begin by moving the victim to a shaded area, loosen all restrictive clothing. Lie the victim down, if possible on an elevated surface. Wet the victim’s clothing and begin fanning them to increase evaporation and cooling. If ice is available place it at key points - the back of the neck, arm pits, groin, behind the knees.
If the victim becomes conscious and able to drink, begin to give small sips of cool water. Be sure not to let the patient drink to much to fast. If you do so the patient will become nauseous and may vomit, leading to airway compromise.
Preventing heat casualties
As a wilderness traveler you are more vulnerable then normal to heat stress injuries. Heat stress can very easily also put you in a wilderness survival situation.
Simple precautions to prevent the risk of heat injuries include:
1.
Drink frequently to replenish body fluids.
2.
Add extra salt to food, to replace lost sodium from sweating.
3.
Take frequent breaks and get into the shade or a cool area when at all possible.
4.
Don't take clothing off, because clothing will become wet with sweat, promoting even more evaporation and cooling of the body.
5.
Were light colored clothing. This will not attract as much radiant heat from the sun.
6.
Check you urine often. When urinating, observe the color of your urine. The drier you become, the darker the urine and stronger is the odor. The more dehydrated you are becoming, the greater the risk for becoming a heat injury.
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