GUEST COLUMN
By Carl Reader
The heat wave appears to be over for now.
Hopefully, everybody got through it without too much more than grumbling.
For the next time Mother Nature raises the temperature, there are some concerns. Heat such as we’ve seen this summer can have consequences. Often, TV reports detail elderly people dying for getting sick from heat stroke during long summer heat waves. It’s a real concern.
The human body’s normal functioning temperature is 98.6. In heat, it maintains that temperature by perspiration, putting moisture on the skin. That water then evaporates, keeping the body cool and operating within its proper temperature range.
To do this, the body needs plenty of water, which is needed to manufacture sweat. Run out of water, and you can’t perspire. You can perspire a half gallon of water away an hour in heat. You must drink the same amount of water to prevent dehydration and stop sweating.
You won’t necessarily feel thirsty if you lose all your water so it’s a good idea to keep drinking water in a hot environment even if you don’t feel you need it.
The core body temperature can rise very quickly once the body loses its ability to sweat. Once your core temperature rises to 106 degree Fahrenheit, very serious problems result. You might develop symptoms like red hot dry skin, rapid heart rate, dizziness and confusion.
Stories abound of foolish or cruel motorists who lock their children or pets in a hot car, which is one of the most dangerous situations as far as heat stroke is concerned. It only takes 15 minutes or so for the interior of a car to reach 110 degrees after starting out at 75 degrees in very hot weather. That temperature can quickly prove fatal to innocents who are locked inside.
The temperature inside a car rises so quickly because the car acts like a solar-powered oven, using the greenhouse effect to trap its heat. Sunlight heats the metal of the car, and the heat streams in the windows to heat the interior. Heat stroke results as has become so tragically apparent in cases reported in the news.
Once heat stroke strikes, the solution is, obviously, to cool the person down. If the person is conscious, get him or her to drink water, not too rapidly and not with the water at such a freezing temperature it shocks the person.
Also, soaking the person’s entire body in cool water helps along with sponging cool water onto the person’s body. Ice packs to the head, neck, armpits and groin also will help.
Heat stroke can be fatal in less than an hour if not treated.
Of course, the best way to avoid heat stroke is not to expose yourself to extreme heat. Those who work outside need to drink more than enough water. If outside workers become dizzy or feel as though they are going to lose consciousness, it’s necessary to get out of the sun and into a cool environment.
Air conditioning and fans help those inside, and water, water and more water will help insure heat stroke won’t strike.
It’s a little bit cooler now, but hot weather is on the way, whether this year or next. Keep the water jug nearby and the air conditioner cranked up.