How to Prevent Heat Injury in Hot Climates

[New Sancai Compilation and First Release] Climate change has caused temperatures around the world to frequently break records for high temperatures in history. If you want to engage in outdoor activities, it is important to be cautious and take precautions against heat injury to avoid physical discomfort and even potentially fatal heat stroke.

Medically, heatstroke has several stages of development. At the beginning, you will feel tired, thirsty, and cramps. If it is more serious, it will lead to heat exhaustion, severe sweating, cold and clammy body, dizziness, headache, nausea, rapid heartbeat and weak pulse, and low blood pressure. If it is not taken care of at this time, it may become severe heat stroke. At this time, the body will not sweat and cannot dissipate heat. The body temperature is too high, unconsciousness or even fainting.

Infants or young children, the elderly, and patients with heart-related diseases are all at high risk of heat injury. Although heat-related deaths and injuries are preventable, an average of more than 600 people die each year in the United States due to heat. Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States show that deaths due to high temperatures all occurred between May and September, and the most cases occurred in July.

Here are a few tips to help you prevent heat injury:

Hydrate ahead of time and refill on the go

Drink a glass of water or other hydrating beverage before going out, and take plenty of water with you. Don't wait until you are thirsty to drink water, because when you are thirsty, your body may already be dehydrated. You can tell from the color of your urine whether you are drinking too little water. If enough water is involved, the urine should be light yellow or almost colorless.

Spend time outside before engaging in outdoor activities

According to medical reports, in order for the body to adapt to the high temperature environment, it takes some time to adjust the body functions. As the body adapts to higher temperatures, it perspires further, and blood flow near the skin increases to cool the body down. If you are going to travel in hot weather or engage in activities that are exposed to high temperatures for a long time, it is recommended to stay outside for a while or some time before departure to allow the body to adapt to the outdoor temperature. Heatstroke is most likely to occur in muggy weather with high humidity and no wind. Therefore, if you must engage in various tasks or activities in very hot weather, you must pay special attention to sunshade and heat dissipation and supplement drinking water.

Wear loose and light-colored clothing as much as possible

Light-colored clothing reflects more heat radiation. Loose clothing allows body heat to escape from the skin through blood circulation. And tight clothing is not easy to dissipate heat, so you should avoid wearing it on hot days.

Check your medications

Medications that act as diuretics may cause you to lose excess fluid in hot weather. Certain types of drugs may also have similar effects, including drugs that act on the sympathetic nerves, antispasmodics, bladder-related drugs, and sedatives. Usually older people are less tolerant to hot weather. If you are not sure whether the medication you are taking is a diuretic, ask your doctor.

Watch for signs of heat injury

According to medical reports, symptoms of heat exhaustion may occur after prolonged exposure to extreme heat. Heat exhaustion can also build up over prolonged periods of exercise, but it doesn't happen suddenly. Symptoms of heat exhaustion include cramping (muscle spasms), extreme fatigue, collapse and rapid heartbeat. Cooling the body down is the first thing to do in a heat injury emergency. Move the patient to a cool place, remove the outer layer of clothing, shower the body with cold water or soak in cold water, if possible, use ice packs, fans as an aid, take a flat lying position and raise the feet to facilitate blood circulation and cool down, and check the patient's breathing status at any time. If symptoms do not subside or continue to worsen, seek medical attention immediately.

avoid alcohol

If going to a party, try to drink non-alcoholic beverages. Alcohol accelerates the body's excretion of water. If you can't avoid drinking at a party, it's best to drink some water with each drink. And if you let yourself fall into a drunken situation, you may lose your judgment and ignore the phenomenon of thermal injury and fall into danger.

(Compilation: Mulian)

(Editor in charge: Jiang Qiming)

(Source of the article: New Sancai first release)