Show:
General
Caring For H.R.E.
Heat Exhaustion
Heat Stroke
Heat Cramps
100
If left untreated, does it take minutes or hours for a heat-related emergency to go from heat exhaustion to a heat stroke?
It only takes minutes for a person's body systems to start failing and the body to start shutting down.
100
Where are the most important places to put icepacks or cold towels?
The armpits, ankles, wrists, neck, and groin. These are the locations of major blood vessels, and as the person loses fluid through sweating, the blood volume decreases which causes blood flow to the skin to increase and blood flow to the vital organs to decrease.
100
What is Heat Exhaustion?
An early indication that the body's temperature regulation system is failing because it is too overworked.
100
True or False: Spraying a victim of a heat stroke with a hose is an acceptable means of cooling them off.
Yes, the victim must be cooled off as quickly as possible using any means available.
100
What are heat cramps?
Painful spasms of the skeletal muscles.
200
True or False: You can only suffer from a heat-related emergency during the summer.
False.
200
Why is cold water the best thing to give a person suffering from a heat-related emergency?
It gets absorbed the quickest to replace fluid lost through persperation. Also, since the person is very likely to be nauseous, water is the least likely to cause vomiting.
200
True or False: Heat Exhaustion is the most common form of heat-related emergencies.
True.
200
What are the most common reasons heat-related emergencies progress to the late stage?
People ignore their symptoms, pass the symptoms off as something less severe, or recognize their symptoms but don't get treatment quickly enough.
200
What body parts are affected by heat cramps?
Primarily legs and abdomen, but any voluntary muscle can be affected.
300
True or False: You only get heat exhaustion or heat stroke from strenuous activity in a hot environment.
What is false.
300
What is the most important thing to do when you find someone suffering from a heat-related injury?
Get them out of the hot environment. This can prevent heat exhaustion from becoming a heat stroke, and takes some of the pressure off the body's temperature regulation system so it can assist in cooling the person down.
300
What can be the first sign of heat exhaustion?
Heat cramps.
300
What causes a heat-related emergency to progress from heat exhaustion to heat stroke?
The body's temperature regulation system begins to fail, the body's temperature rises rapidly, and the body systems can't take the heat and start to fail.
300
How do you care for heat cramps?
Have the victim rest in a cool place, give them water or a commercial sports drink [to replace carbs, electrolytes, and simple sugars], and watch them for signals of progression to later stages of heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
400
What are the stages of heat related emergencies?
Heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke.
400
What are the steps to caring for a person in the early stage of a heat-related emergency?
Cool the body, give the victim fluids if they are conscious, take steps to minimize shock.
400
Can heat exhaustion always be reversed before it becomes a heat stroke?
Most of the time, but not always. Occasionally even with on scene treatment the person still progresses to the secondary stage, heat stroke, and advanced medical treatment must be sought immediately.
400
What are the signs of a heat-related emergency specific to heat strokes?
Red/dry/hot skin, changes in level of consciousness, vomiting.
400
Should a person who has had heat cramps be allowed to resume activity?
Yes, but they need to be watched carefully and drink lots of fluids prior to and after the activity. If the heat cramps progress to either heat stroke or heat exhaustion, the person should stop all activity for that day at least.
500
What types of people are at the highest risk for heat-related emergencies?
Jobs that require strenuous activity/heavy clothing in a hot environment, elderly, young children, people with pre-disposing health conditions, have had a past heat-related emergency, people taking diuretics.
500
What are the steps to care for someone in the late stage of a heat-related emergency?
Call 911, cool the body with any means available [soaked towels/sheets, hose,], place icepacks on the large blood vessels [wrists, ankles, armpits, groin, neck], perform CPR/rescue breathing if they go into respiratory or cardiac arrest.
500
What are the major signs of heat exhaustion?
Cool/moist/pale/ashen/flushed skin, headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness, exhaustion, heavy sweating.
500
What happens if a heat stroke is not treated?
The body stops sweating which means the body can't cool down, body temperature rises quickly, vital organs begin to fail. Then the body starts to convulse, after which it enters a comatose state followed by death.
500
Should a person be given salt water or salt tablets to replace the salt lost from perspiration?
Neither. Giving a person any high concentration of salt will hasten the onset of the advanced stages of heat-related illness.