Eastern scorcher

B

Beth & Rod

SR Wood Geek / Moderator
It hit 91 here yesterday. Who else had record temps? Rod was out sealing a deck in the heat and suffered heat stroke. I was really worried about him. Spent alot of time cooling him down with cold wet towels, ice, and forcing fluids on him. I don't know how he made it home. He was really bad off.

Beth:(
 
We have had 89 and 90 degrees, respectively, the last two days. Was nice spraying water in that temp again. Did a maintenance wash and minor seal. Got my first sunburn!!!!!!!!!


Reed
 
Strange this weather of ours, when the East sizzles the West gets cold and damp.

A drop of moister but no serious rain as predicted, but then a sure bet is to go against what the weatherman says.

Hope Rod is better today, tell him he should know better then to work without drinking lots of water to keep his body temp. normal. Either that or stop cracking the whip on him!

Jon
 
Thanks Jon. I have been reminding him all day to drinnk water. Thing is, he was drinking water. He drank well over a gallon. He drank the gallon he took with him then went to the customer's hose. He said the heat coming off the deck boards was amazing. Last year he and I and another worker were out sealing decks and had the same problem, except it was me that got it. They drenched my head and lay me flat in the shade with my feet propped up. I was done for the day. I was also working on the horizontals at the time.

Strange, but it seems worse in the beginning of the season when you are not used to it than it does mid summer....

Beth
 
Well it has for the most part been nice here in Colorado in the Mid-70's where I live but yesterday morning I woke up to snow falling on the ground. Yep that is normal to have a littel snow storm in April. The snow did not stay long but the wind picked up afterwards and was just horrible. I don't mind any other thing then the wind seems to ruin just about everything.
 
Yes it is that time of year. It has been a couple of years since I got heat stroke, but I have had it 5 or 6 times. There are a couple of things that you need to remember. This is coming from a guy that lives in a standard 108 degree day in the summer,(but it is a dry heat, Whatever)
Drink lots of water. I buy Gatorade powder and mix it up in my water cooler. It is about $6 to mix up five gallons, but it wets your whistle, and makes it a whole lot more pleasant to drink.
Wear a hat and long sleeves. It will keep you cooler and reduce your chances of sunburn. The Long sleeve shirts absorbe the moisture better than just having it evaporate off of your skin.
Take breaks, even a 5 minute drink break every hour will help you in the long run and it will increase your productivity.
When you get home at night, take a cool bath to cool your body down. I am not saying an ice shower, just a bath that is cooler than a normal shower.
Do not drink Alcohol, or Caffeine. They are both diuretics. This means that they make you pee more than you are taking in. If you aren't peeing after drinking alcohol and caffeine, you are on the verge of dehydration.
Don't smoke. It heats up your body internally and makes it harder for your sytem to regulate itself.
If you are stopped ans shade is five feet away, move to the shade.
When you are at home at night, chugalug Ice water instead of beer. Usually when you ar drinking water during the day and get dehydrated it started the night before.
If when you get up in the morning you don't need to pee, or pee just a little, you are dehydrated. Drink a half gallon of water before you leave for work, and another gallon within about an hour. Yes, you will be water logged, and you will need to pee, but that is what it will take for your body to restore itself.

Enough of a rant. I hate it when summer comes and I have not fortgotten the last one.:rolleyes:

Scott
 
On the real hot days I always bring along some Gatorade. I try to drink mostly water, since I don't want to load up on carbos, but your body needs the minerals lost in sweat to be replaced.

I've tried the Powerade, and some of the other brands, but I think Gatorade is the best. Some of the other brands seem to be too sweet for my taste, maybe they have more sugar.

Make sure Rod has a supply of Gatorade in his cooler, and Scotts other suggestions are good ones too. I often bring a couple Snickers bars too, the peanuts can give a quick protein boost if needed.
 
Watch out for heat stroke. If you get it bad enough fluids won't help. You should go to the hospital immiedetly where you might need to get fluids via intrevinoulsy(Can't spell no dictionary around).

Heat exhaustion is one thing which fluids and cooling off will help but heat stroke is much more dangerous where death can and does occur.

A few years back I suffered heat stroke where I had a Grand Maul siezure(The worst kind of siezure). It came on suddenly while I was jogging in 95 degree heat(What was I thinking??) I collapsed and thank God for a couple of caring people who called and ambulance immiedetly. I was hospitalized for over 2 weeks. I had amnesia along with slight paralasys on my right side. What first was thought to be a stroke at 24 turned out to be HEAT STROKE which almost did me in.

So be careful because heat stroke can come on suddenly. Of course today it hit 96 degrees and I powerwashed with hot water all day. I did drink plenty of fluids and dumped water on myself to keep from overheating. Bring on the 60 degree weather I miss it already.
 
Believe me if I had not gotten any response from him at all, and if his improvement had not been as fast as it was, I would have called 911. He called me at work on his way home and could barely speak. I flew out of work and met him here and started drenching him with cold water, then ice and ice packs, and made him drink and take in salt.

We were out of Gatorade, but Rod is going to go get some before he heads out to his job. Yeasterday he washed, or rather trained a new guy on washing. Today he is sealing again and I will make sure he takes a break mid-day. (it's called c'mon honey, come pick me up and we're going someplace cool for lunch!)

Seizures are no fun. I am all too familiar with them... One is not life threatening, but if it doesn't stop with one or two, and they keep on coming (duration of 30 minutes continuous), you're in what's called "status epilepticus" which basically means your brain is short circuting itself.

Does anyone know where I can get Mr. Macho a safari hat? One of those that is white cloth and the cloth thingy is long in the back??

Beth
 
I've found that in the summer my hands and arms tend to cramp up a lot, to stop this I will eat a minimum of 2 bannanas a day, something about the potassium, I'm no docter but it works, also I will fill my big orange insulated water jug with ice and water and then quarter half a dozen limes or oranges into it.
Looks like a long summer
Gav
 
try a tilley hat. It is what I wear. A little pricey, but very worth it.

www.tilley.com

Scott
 
Thank you Scott! :)
 
Beth, glad Rod is feeling better.

what's a tilley hat?

As a retired AF medic, I am all too aware of heat stroke. Been there, done that, and treated it. BE CAREFUL OUT THERE YALL.


Reed
 
I see a lot of good advice in the dialogue, but one item omitted may result in real danger. I see a lot of mention of ice water, ice packs, cooler, cold water, etc. I'll share what happened to me a long time ago. Working outside in the heat, unloading lumber from boxcars by hand, I quenched my thirst every time I passed the cooler. All day long. When day was done I was headed for my car when suddenly I fell to the ground with cramps in every part of my body. Came very close to losing my life as a result of vehicle traffic. Couldn't move. Horrible, painful cramps that remained for the night. I was young, in very good shape, and worked like this every day. I don't know the medical analysis - but it was determined I shocked my system with very cold water. From that day to this I try to over-hydrate in hot weather with tepid water only. I avoid cold water altogether, and never again did I suffer a repeat.
Richard
 
That's great to know. I never put 2 and 2 together about that, but come to think of it, I have felt stomach cramps after drinking cold water out of doors. Not that bad, but still, it's good to know.

I cooled Rod down in two step process. I started with cold wet towels, from tap water. After a while I added the ice to pressure points, elbows, knees, and ice pack covered in a cloth on top of his head. I put an ice cube on his forhead and you should have seen how fast it melted! (not to mention him complaining of pain)

When I moved to his back he was extremely sensitive, so I used a wet washcloth and just brushed it over the back, so it would not be too much. Also made him drink water, and eat salt. He asked for lemon as well, so he got it.

Maybe everyone should keep a towel/cloth to wet down and put
on their head when they are out and start to feel too heated. I told him I am going to measure his head later and get one of the hats Scott mentioned and he said, "what happens when I get sealant all over it?" So, you get sealant on it. Oh well. At least you are covered, was my response. He's not a hat guy, but also not fighting me on it.

Check out the link Scott shared. They are expensive, but then again, what's your health worth to you, 'ya know?

Beth

:)
 
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