Some Hot Weather Tips

[Ghost]

So first of all, if you guys use FaceBook, go and like Dark Angel Medical LLC. The follow was posted by them just then and I feel that it's quite important for us to remember these basic but life saving bits of knowledge.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Dark-Angel-Medical-LLC/107775545993562

Friday Safety Brief

The days are getting hotter out there. Make sure you keep yourself hydrated. Ensure you take in electrolyte solutions when you are exerting yourself in a hot environment, not just water as water can cause you to urinate these necessary electrolytes out of your system and bring on a condition known as "Water Toxicity", which can be fatal.

Listen to your body and don't push yourself too hard. If you have some aches, pains and strains, don't "push through it" as you can only injure yourself more. Ice, compress and elevate as well as some NSAIDs (Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs) like Motrin, Aleve or good-old Aspirin, if you can take them, will work wonders.

Take it easy and rest until you're healed. Many of us are hard-headed (me) and impatient (also me) and want to "get back to it". Pushing back into whatever you're doing when you're not healed up will only increase your chances of injuring yourself more severely and prolonging your recovery time.

So when your medic tells you, "Drink Water, Take Motrin, Pull Security.", there is actually some sound science there. ;-)

Y'all have a great (and safe) weekend!
Pocket Doc

Anyone else have any hot weather tips they'd like to share with the class?

[APX808]

Great page Frosty, I specially like the Friday quizzes. I just subscribed 

[Ghost]

You wouldn't believe how valuable facebook of all things actually is! Pages like that one are the ones I never skip over, I've always got to read what they post

[Kentactic]

Good stuff. When your as bad as i am in the heat and live in the high desert you figure out a few things. I was huffin it about 6 miles uphill to 8,000ft with a 50lb pack and as we arrived at camp i struck a bad fever. Popping two advil saved the day. I was then able to hydrate and eat to get some electrolytes back in me. My buddy i was with never even noticed other then i wasnt helping setup camp at first. Hindsight its important to communicate to others if you feel off. If i would have passed out he would have no clue why and we were out of cell phone range. So remember Ibuprofen reduces fever and communication is important.

[JohnyMac]

As Ken wrote, "Good stuff!"

Several years ago on a hot July day, I was sealing the outside logs at the cabin. I started to feel so bad I actually hauled myself off to the emergency room at the local dozen or bed hospital.

The nurse at check in put me in a wheel chair and started to quiz me, took my BP and temp. She made me drink some Gatorade type drink. The resident doctor showed up pretty quickly and had her hook up a drip to my arm.

A couple of hours later they released me with a heat stroke pamphlet and a stern lecture. 

Heat stroke can happen to anybody even Super JohnyMac.
 

[Ghost]

Here is a home made electrolyte recipe. Seems pretty good. Anyone want to give it a shot and see?

http://www.mnn.com/food/healthy-eating/blogs/a-simple-homemade-electrolyte-drink

Or, you can make this super simple, easily adaptable version that tastes sort of like orange lemonade with a dash of salt. It is tasty and refreshing! I used local raw honey that was unfiltered, so  it will have a slightly honey-ish taste (even with just the 2 tablespoons). You can always replace it with organic, unbleached sugar, as some recipes use that instead of the honey.
 
Super Simple Electrolyte Drink
Ingredients:
1/2 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 cups of filtered water
2 -4 tablespoons raw honey, to taste
1/8 teaspoon unrefined salt (to taste)
Directions:
In a blender, blend all of the ingredients together until the honey or sugar is dissolved. Taste test and adjust as needed. Enjoy.
 

Anyone make their own already?

[thatGirl]

I keep packages of Emern-C with me for electrolyte and vitamin boost.  You just pour a packet into your water bottle and shake it up.  I won't say it tastes great, but it doesn't taste bad.  It boosts your energy because of the B vitamins, so I'll use it as a pick-me-up if I'm feeling under the whether or dragging ass (emergen-c and alka-seltzer plus cold medicine are my hangover cures). Here's a link but you can by boxes at grocery and drugstores:

http://shop.emergenc.com/Original-Formula/c/EmergenC@Original

We also keep potassium pills (be careful, it's easy to overdose), bioplasma cell salt tablets in our kits.  Emergen-C and bioplasma cell salts both have potassium, so pick one of the three supplements, don't overlap.  As long as you drink water with them, these are all useful supplements for preventing or recovering from heat exhaustion/dehydration. 

To make a natural swamp cooler in the heat, we wet our shemaghs and drape them over our heads and shoulders but, that may only work in dry heat, not humid climates.  Wetting your hat works as well, at least in semi-arid and arid climates. 

Head, armpits and groin are all important areas for controlling thermoregulation (regulating heat).  If you can cool any of those areas down significantly, you can bring your core temperature down (that's why those shirts with armpit vents are so nice in the heat).  If possible, place icepacks or cold water bottles under arms and between thighs if you are suffering from heat stroke or exhaustion.  Reversing that thinking, to stay warm you wear a hat to prevent heat loss and wear long underwear that wicks up moisture and dries fast (like polyester) to prevent heat loss from sweating in underarms and groin.

I will try the homemade electrolyte recipe next time I have all the ingredients (no oranges at the moment), good stuff guys! 
 

[CrystalHunter1989]

I'll have to go back and check this, but I'm thinking the Israelis figured out that if you drink one liter of water every hour on the hour, you greatly lower the risk of heat-related illnesses.