First Legit Heat Exhaustion experience

[livinoutdoors]

Hydration starts the day before. I am loading up for tomorrows heat right now. I watch urine color Railroad mentioned like a hawk.

This is it right here. You gotta be ahead of it. You cant catch up. Water all day every day.

 

[basstrkr]

When the air your breathing in is warmer that the air your breathing out there aint no cooling going on. I use my truck A/C frequently to aid cooling.

 

[Jeff C.]

Yep, I think twice in my life.

 

[Silver Britches]

Heat got me once as a kid on a fishing trip with dad down in Florida, at South Moon Fish Camp. We had been fishing a few hours that morning in the blistering heat. Tore up the fresh water fish. Started feeling a little weird later that morning, and we headed back to camp. I got out of the boat at the dock, and got the cooler full of fish out. And was getting ready to clean some fish with dad, when I heard an old lady on the dock ask if I was alright. Next thing I know I dropped down, and she caught my arm, keeping me from falling on my face. I briefly blacked out, and my head was dang sure spinning. Just a terrible feeling. Someone brought me a cold drink, and that helped. But I felt bad. Had to go lay down in the cabin with the AC on. Dad always jokes that I was just wanting to get out of helping him clean all them fish.

It liked to have gotten me a another time while I was cutting me a shooting lane out in a big overgrown cutover. All I was using was a machete and snips. It was all I could do to get back in the swamp under the cover of trees. I sat on a log feeling pretty rough, with nothing to drink. I had already drank the 2 bottles of water I took with me. I sat there, and once I started feeling a little better, I got my tail back to the truck. It was hot as it is today.

 

[Lilly001]

In the 80’s I ended up in the back of an EMS coach with it while working.
Back then you recovered and went back to work. In the 90’s they gave me IVs and sent me home. In the new millennium they gave me IVs and kept me at the ER for a couple hours.
Now days I limit myself to about an hour of work and two hours recovery in the AC.
I’ve found water , colder the better, on my head helps.
But hydration is the key. Drink WATER before you start and during the event.

 

[crackerdave]

Sometimes the first symptom is a headache.

 

[gobbleinwoods]

Heat exhaustion happened to me once when I was a kid riding my bike home from the pond after a day of swimming with little internal hydration. Wound up in the ditch after almost being hit by a car.

The real danger begins when you stop sweating and go from heat exhaustion into heat stroke.

Heat exhaustion is no joke..Bad thing about it is once it starts it
takes awhile for your body to reverse . Even when u enter a cold enviroment
to reverse it.

It takes almost 36 hours to totally rehydrate and recover fully from heat exhaustion.

As mentioned cold water on the wrists also cold compresses under the arm pits.

 

[trad bow]

I don’t know how we’re able to survive working in a coal fired generation plant. Is the summer temperatures reached 115 to 120 almost every day. Even two floors below ground level was awful but the upper floors would make your blood boil. Temperatures away from the boilers would be 130 degrees with next to the boilers would be at the 150 degree temperature. We had air conditioning suits but still couldn’t stay more than 45 minutes in those temperatures. The high temperatures we are having now still bother me but not as bad as it does to others. We had men that couldn’t handle the 110 temperatures.

 

[Stroker]

Three different experiences with the heat. First time woke up in hospital with nine hours of amnesia and three day stay. Second time wound up with eight staples in my egg and another three day visit. Third time went down after making it to the house, wife got me in cold shower and I finally cooled down but was physically exhausted and mentally compromised for a few days. Doctors have always advised 50% water, 50% sports drink to keep your electrolytes up. As stated above each incident lowers resistance to the next one. It's a dangerous health issue for young and old.

 

[Hoss]

Don’t know that I have ever had heat exhaustion, but have definitely experienced heat syncope. That is a sudden dizziness that can happen when you are active in hot weather. Have had that a couple of times working on trails to deer stands and putting up deer stands. Always handled heat pretty well. Back when I was a teenager, baling hay in the summer, I would get put in the barn stacking the hay. between loads of hay arriving, I’d get out of the barn and head for the nearest water hydrant and run cold water over my arms. If that wasn’t available, head for the stock tank and plunge my arms in. Helped cool down a bunch. That and drink a bunch of water.
They say one of the reasons older folks can’t handle the heat is their sweat glands don’t release as much water. I’m wondering when that is going to happen cause when I get hot there isn’t a dry piece of clothing on me. Mrs. Hoss doesn’t care much for a hug when I’m like that.
Y’all be safe outdoors during this heat and as others have said, keep drinking lots of fluids. We dink water with a couple of packets of Propel hydration powder in it.

 

[turkeykirk]

I’ve been working on my cabin in North Georgia. Cooler than where I live in mid-GA. Even hot working here. My boss (wife) wants to know why I take 30 minute breaks every hour. Tell her it’s to keep from overheating.

 

[gma1320]

Had it once from working in a heat wave and my wife quit putting salt in our food cause she was pregnant with our second young un. I could cool off or get hydrated enough no matter how much water I drank. Eventually I fell out. I was by myself working. I eventually got up. Couldn't figure out what to so I took my shirt off amd dunked it in the icy water in my cooler and wrapped it around my neck and over my shoulders.

 

[RamblinWreck88]

I met my match on June 10th in North GA. On paper, the hike was well within my capabilities at 13 miles & 2,200 feet elevation... But the heat was another story... I decided that discretion was the better part of valor, found a nice vista, and turned around. As someone who grew up on the coastal plane, it was certainly humbling

 

[Big7]

I have never heard the term "Bear Caught" so I looked it up....

Turns out I've been worrying about heat stroke lately because I've been trying to get a few saltwater trips going. One is a 12 hour trip.

I haven't been out in open ocean kind of sun and heat for a little while, a few years older and one major surgery ago.. So I'm a little concerned.

I've never had a medical problem with it but I just hate it when it's super hot.

 

[livinoutdoors]

I don’t know how we’re able to survive working in a coal fired generation plant. Is the summer temperatures reached 115 to 120 almost every day. Even two floors below ground level was awful but the upper floors would make your blood boil. Temperatures away from the boilers would be 130 degrees with next to the boilers would be at the 150 degree temperature. We had air conditioning suits but still couldn’t stay more than 45 minutes in those temperatures. The high temperatures we are having now still bother me but not as bad as it does to others. We had men that couldn’t handle the 110 temperatures.

Probably a dry heat in there. Cooked the dew outta the air.

 

[Nicodemus]

Probably a dry heat in there. Cooked the dew outta the air.

Once it gets that hot it doesn`t matter whether it`s dry or wet heat. Top of a coal fired boiler is awful.

 

[turkeykirk]

I remember when they had these type salt tablet dispensers by the water fountains where my Dad worked long ago.

 

[normaldave]

So these stories are actually encouraging. I exercise fairly well, eat decent, but over the last few years running the weed eater in the heat absolutely crushes me.

Asked the doctor about it...nothing wrong with you, welcome to getting older, pretty much echoed the above regarding hydration, work early, take breaks, get cool. I realize I don't drink enough ahead of time, and need to work that in.

I see others who are older seemingly working in the field/yard without issue, and think I should be able to keep pace.

Had a run-in last Saturday, took nearly all day to do the trimming because of so many breaks and 50/50 water and Gatorade drinks. Never did get light headed etc, but ridiculously fatigued, and wasn't as mentally sharp, and then Sunday was rough. I knew I had overdone it Saturday because I didn't feel like working on the vehicle projects at all, and that's unusual.

 

[mguthrie]

Me and my 9 man framing crew go through 3-4 cases of water a day.

 

[fireman32]

I think trad bow has the hottest job. Firefighting in about 600 degrees with glorified insulated coveralls is tough, but at least it normally doesn’t last more than about 15-30 minutes.

Re-Lyte from Redmond.com is a great supplement for outside workers. I’d recommend 2 packets for those that sure enough sweat. I’ve been using it pretty regular this summer, it helps. Y’all stay safe out there.