Safety and Avoidance of Harm

[rambo granny]

Heat Exhaustion & Heat Stroke

Key Words:
*Heat exhaustion
*Heat stroke
*Decreased Cognition


‘Tis the season…..of sweltering. Due to unusual weather patterns and heat, places besides FL are finding themselves 🥵 hotter than usual.
Heat exhaustion which can progress to heat stroke is best avoided. Unfortunately, a person teetering toward heat illness may be totally unaware of mounting danger. No one is immune.  Years ago, a student who happened to be an EMT pointed at me saying "you need to sit down right now & put ice on your head." That was sobering.

A quick google search turns up several sources expressing that those who have experienced heat exhaustion or heat stroke are more susceptible to future episodes.😳

Be aware of symptoms such as profuse sweating, red or pale skin, weakness, dizziness, and especially cognitive decline. In later stages skin may be hot, dry. Heat stroke itself is a medical emergency. More on that here:
https://news.ufl.edu/2022/07/heatstrokes-long-term-damage-to-the-body/

In the interest of keeping everyone safe during the hotter than usual times the current weather patterns bring us, here are some heat avoidance tips that haven been used in FL over the years.

*Use pop up tents over the firing line. We have some but encourage students to also bring pop ups. The larger the covered area the better as the searing sun moving overhead changes what is covered.
*Take frequent mandatory hydration breaks for everyone to drink water/electrolyte solutions.
*Small disposable water bottles frozen in advance make ice packs for neck, head, underarms.
*Bring extra water and an ice chest. A stack of hand towels that can be dunked into ice water and applied to neck
*Fill a clean pump up garden sparayer with water for folks to apply cooling mist.
*Run fans across firing line with generator if that's available and permitted by the range.
*Put those showing symptoms of overheating in an air conditioned car. ⚠️ Warning. Make sure that person is monitored. More than once we have found folks in cars with windows up and AC off. Yes! folks do get dingy when overheated and do these things.

If you have additional tips regarding heat exhaustion, please share on this thread.

[Cmdr of Flying Saucer X-2]

Great info Rambo Granny.

To add to the above;

1. Of course drinking water is super important. You also need to intake electrolytes. You can literally die from drinking too much water without the electrolytes. Too much water dilutes the bodies needed electrolytes.

2. The color of your urine is a good indicator of your hydration level. Yellow or clear is good, gold is bad. This of course doesn't factor in things like hyperglycemia.

3. The time to start hydrating is the night before. It takes longer to rehydrate than to dehydrate. Drink before you're thirsty. A decent episode of heat illness will take well over 12 hours for your body to recover. Heat stroke will take more than two days; no worries there though, by that time, the hospital you're probably in should make sure you're good to go.... before you go  .

[9mm4545]

Perhaps of most importance to instructors is to be aware of the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion and heat stroke as well as some of the predispositions that make these more likely. For example, an elderly overweight person on beta blocker meds would be high risk on a typical summer day in Florida and should be monitored very closely for any signs of heat injury. Most concerning is the decrease in cognition that can come as a result of overheating as this can be a real safety issue around folks handling loaded firearms. For summer shoots expect things to move slowly and be sure to provide more breaks more often. The line boss should regularly be calling for mandatory hydration breaks. A big cooler filled with cold Gatorade can be one of the most useful tools for producing a safe and enjoyable shoot when the temperatures soar. Water alone may not be sufficient and the addition of electrolytes helps. Lastly, try hard to stay in the shade and avoid instructing at the target line out in the sun.

[scuzzy]

Thanks for posting this.

We've broke the record for high temps the last 4 days now and no relief in sight. 108 yesterday and 110 right now plus they're calling for 105 and above this weekend for my upcoming KD. lol - I actually turned on our A/C which I don't usually do even when it's 100 degrees.

I hadn't sent out my pre-event email yet so I'm about to add info on this.

Also - if somebody has been sweating like crazy and they stop sweating - big time problem.

Sweating like crazy - heat exhaustion.

Then they stop sweating - impending heat stroke - stop all you're doing and take care of them. Now.

I'm dang sure going to slow it down, take lots of breaks, make everybody drink lots of water and take way more care of the shooters than usual. Just call me Mom since that's how I'll be acting.

[scuzzy]

Here's a few ideas for shooting in the heat. This is an email that I'd just sent to the shooters a few minutes ago.


Hey All,

Me again. Got some things to consider for the heat this weekend:

1. Bring a wide brim hat if you have one. Or even just a ball cap. I'm going to get an extra ice chest with water/ice in it. This chest will be just for dipping your hat in and not drinking. That'll really help cool you down. Ice water on a hat put on your head is nice.

2. Bring a small towel or handkerchief. Same thing - dip it in the cold water and put it on your neck. Feels really nice.

3. If y'all want to start extra early on Saturday and knock off earlier that may help. It shows one of you as in TN so that might not work depending on if you'll be in the area Friday. Anyhow if everybody wants to to that we can. I know we'll have to all get up extra early. Heck I don't know if I want to but I thought I'd toss that out. But if even one person doesn't want to then we'll just do the standard 8:30am start time. Let me know if y'all want to do that.

4. Or maybe instead we'll take a break around 2PM and discuss various KD points and then start again later and go later than normal.

5. I'm going to enforce everybody drinking plenty of water. I'll bring Gatorade or 'Propel' which is an electrolyte and tastes better. Dump a small pack in a bottle of water. You'll be able to call me Mr. Mom since I'll be nagging everybody to hydrate. We're going to go slower than normal else heat exhaustion, or even heat stroke, is possible.

6. Frogg Toggs - Chill Pad Towel. If you've never heard of them they are a special small 'towel' you can dip in water and put on your neck. These things are amazing.  Nevermind - I just checked Walmart which has them. Looks like sold out everywhere. If you're outside a lot you might want to look into them for other occasions though. 5 stars.

See y'all there,

Kirby

[Dagny]

Great information.  Thank you for posting.

We had a shoot this month in Shelby, Indiana with temps in the 90's.  Saturday was rough with all of us feeling the effects of the heat.  Sunday morning, before we got started, I passed out some samples I had of an electrolyte drink mix to all the instructors.  It made a definite difference to me, and other instructors commented that they too felt better than the day before. 

Personally, I avoid sugar so this salt product is a preference of mine over Gatorade.  Others add a bit of sugar or stevia to balance out the salt taste.  If interested this is the product:  https://drinklmnt.com/pages/ingredients

[LadyRimfire]

Great post and very informative. Thanks for sharing!

[JustKim]

We just bring out a salt block and let everyone lick on it.  It lasts a LONG time.

JUST KIDDING --          I know -- sorry -- I couldn't help myself.

These are all great suggestions.  We tell everyone that during each course of instruction, we expect to see them with their water bottles, etc. in their hand, and we remind them often to hydrate as they are returning from the target line, as well as taking hydration breaks. We also tell them if they haven't made a dehydration break during the day to drink more!!  I will definitely start adding and having on hand some electrolyte powder/bottles of some sort. 

Having that extra bucket of ice water on hand for towels/hats is always a good idea.  If someone starts complaining about the water tasting salty/nasty... well -- just saying -- make sure to label it as such. 

Everyone have a great summer and stay safe out there! 

In Liberty,
Kim