Heat Illness Types, Symptoms and Treatment
Warm, sunny weather offers the opportunity for fun outdoor activities and also, unfortunately, the potential for heat-related illness. “Here in Northwest Arkansas, it’s definitely important to stay mindful of heat illness as we get going into summer,” says Dr. Ryan Mantooth, an emergency medicine physician at the Washington Regional Emergency Department.
“There are actually quite a few different types of heat illnesses,” Mantooth says. “These include heat syncope — which is passing out or fainting from the heat — heat cramps, heat rash, heat exhaustion and heat stroke.” The most dangerous of these, he says, are heat exhaustion and heat stroke. “Both are very serious, but heat stroke is a true life-threatening emergency.”
Signs of potentially dangerous heat illness include:
- Increased heart rate
- Rapid breathing
- Nausea and vomiting
- Headache
- Fatigue
- High body temperature
- Altered mental status
If you or someone around you is showing any of these signs of heat illness, get the person away from the source of heat exposure — for instance, out of the sun or out of a hot building. Move them into an air-conditioned space if possible. Remove as much of their clothing as is reasonable. Mantooth also recommends giving the person something cool to drink if they are able to do so. You can also place cold packs on the person’s neck, armpits and groin, or spray their skin with cool water to help with evaporative cooling. Mantooth says an ice bath is also effective.
“If you start these cooling measures and the person seems to be improving appropriately, then you can potentially avoid going to the ER,” Mantooth says.
However, if body temperature reaches about 104 degrees Fahrenheit, call 911 immediately. “At that temperature, patients start to get what we call altered mental status — confusion, decreased level of consciousness. They may be so disoriented that they cannot even walk properly,” he says. “You definitely need to go to the emergency room with those symptoms.”