People falling faint due to a heatstroke may be a common occurrence during these searing hot summer months.
For this reason Paarl Post deems it all-too-necessary to gear its readers up with some tips and steps to follow if someone suffers a heatstroke.
According to a Drakenstein Farm Watch (DFW) volunteer and internationally qualified paramedic who wishes to remain anonymous heatstrokes vary depending on age and circumstances. In providing his tips he also highlights common misconceptions in treating it:
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Keep hydrated, for it is most important to remember “most heatstrokes result from dehydration,” he said. “Especially on such hot days, a 2 F water intake is necessary to avoid falling faint, and fizzy or cooldrinks do not count as sufficient hydration.”
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Keep out of the sun as much as possible.
. “Avoid treating people with ice or ice water once they have collapsed,” the DFW volunteer advised. He says the danger in treating a heatstroke with ice is because the body would commonly warm itself even further to adjust to the sudden icy exposure.
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Assess the patient’s clothes. “By only removing someone’s shoes will already help the body cool down, but it will be ideal to remove excessive clothing items like long-sleeved jeans, T-shirts and jackets,” the volunteer said. “It’s also common for some to swim while wearing heavy clothing and to think that the wet material will keep them cool. They then risk suffering from sunstroke due to over-exposure, since they feel cool with wet clothing.”
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Get a wet/damp towel or cloth and place it on body parts that host main arteries, such as like the back of the neck, armpits, stomach or ankles. “By focusing a damp towel on main arteries will help cool down your core body temperature and alleviate high blood pressure that quite possibly spiked due to heat and dehydration.
. “While it’s not common practice, you might want to keep blood flow streamlined, so even slightly elevating the feet while the patient is lying down will also help a bit.”
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Heatstroke symptoms: Symptoms vary slightly among children under age 7 versus older kids and adults. “Children then may have fever convulsions that appear similar to an epileptic fit. In older ages it may start with dry skin, high blood pressure, headaches, nausea and people could also become confused or disoriented before the onset of a total collapse.”
