The US Department of Labor issued a heat hazard alert last year as a reminder to employers to protect workers exposed to extreme heat. Among other populations — like older adults, young children, people who are less mobile and those with certain health conditions — people whose jobs keep them outside or in extreme heat are more susceptible to heat illness. That includes heatstroke, which can be fatal and is the most serious form of heat-related illness. This summer is predicted to be a scorcher, according to a forecast by The Weather Channel. Here’s how to prepare for it.
Heatstroke can happen because of overexertion or strenuous activity, but “classic” heatstrokes occur when someone is exposed to a hot environment and their body temperature rises to dangerous levels. Most fatal heat illnesses happen in workers during the first few days of working in warm or hot weather, according to the Labor Department, because the body’s had no time to acclimate to the increased temperature.
We see heatstroke “particularly among the elderly, in very young children, like babies, and when we see these heat waves that go on for several days,” said Dr. Korin Hudson, an emergency room physician with MedStar Health.
Here’s what to know if you or someone near you starts experiencing symptoms of heatstroke.
Read more: Is It Heatstroke or Heat Exhaustion?
Heatstroke symptoms
Sometimes, heatstroke can start with symptoms of heat exhaustion, which isn’t quite as serious as heatstroke, but still requires someone to cool down as quickly as possible. Symptoms of heat exhaustion include nausea, headache, cold skin, a fast or weak pulse and other signs. If left untreated, heat exhaustion can progress to heatstroke, which is a medical emergency. If your symptoms worsen, last more than one hour or you start vomiting, call 911.
Symptoms of heatstroke, according to the Mayo Clinic and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include:
- Altered mental state, including confusion, agitation and slurred speech.
- Hot, flushed, usually dry skin (however, if your heatstroke was brought on by exercise, it may be slightly moist, the Mayo Clinic says).
- Headache.
- Seizures.
- Very high body temperature (104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher).
- Rapid breathing.
- Racing heart beat.
