Outdoor Safety: Heatstroke Treatment
Wednesday, April 23rd, 2008Passport to Texas from Texas Parks and Wildlife
Heat Stroke is a potentially life or death situation, so it’s an emergency medical situation.
Brian Farr is the director for Athletic Training Education at the University of Texas. He says the one of the defining symptoms of heat stroke is the internal body temperature.
About 104 to 105 and above is considered to be in the heat stroke area. That’s when you really start to see some organ damage and some other issues that can be life threatening.
It is important to treat someone quickly when they start to exhibit signs of heat stroke.
The number one thing is rapid cooling. That is the most important thing. So ideally, they’re submersed from the shoulders or the mid-chest down in a cold tub full of cool water. If you don’t have that, removing them from the heat into a shaded environment. Removing clothes within reason. You can apply bags to the back of the neck; the arm pits, the groin area, behind the knees. Something that will cool the person as quickly as possible and the second thing is getting emergency medical services there.
While heat stroke is a life threatening condition, Farr says it is also a preventable one. Visitors to Texas State Parks can help prevent heat stroke by staying hydrated and getting acclimated to Texas heat.
For more information on heat related illnesses, visit passporttotexas.org.
That’s our show… For Texas Parks and Wildlife…I’m Cecilia Nasti.
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