Posted on 06/07/2004 6:59:39 AM PDT by Brian Mosely
BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) - A U.S. soldier serving in Baghdad died after collapsing while on guard duty, the American military said Monday.
The soldier in the 1st Cavalry Division lost consciousness and stopped breathing around 11 a.m on Sunday. Medics attempted to resuscitate him and took him to a military hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The soldier's death is under investigation.
Daytime temperatures are already over 100 degrees in Iraq.
Hey Eagle Eye, doesn't the Florida heat and humidity sond good about now? Seriously, we hope you are doing the best to keep yourself from becoming a heat casualty. Water and limiting exposure to the sun are key... damn, here I go preaching to the choir!
Stay safe, come home soon, and KEEP YOUR FREAKIN' HEAD DOWN!
PS - We are proud of you and ALL who are serving our country there, military and civilian.
That's what I always thought. Maybe it's the aridity here. I was told yesterday that water and salt was the way to go. That the sugar in the Gatorade was very bad after just coming in from the heat.
Yep. I get to put as much salt on stuff as I want without the slightest tinge of guilt.
WOOOOOOO and YAAAAAAAAAY
(I amuse easily these days....)
I understand that once you have had heat stroke you are extremely susceptible to another attack. Is that true? My son told me that several officers in training with him suffered heat stroke a couple of weeks ago. I cannot understand why more precautions against this are not taken as it seems to affect a person for the rest of their life.
But...but...what will I put it in?
Gunner can arrange for a great shipment of Beer Water, I bet.
The issues go straight back to the platoon sergeants and squad leaders. Once troops are placed on water discipline though it may seem excessive what needs to happen is that the troops are ordered to fill a canteen cup with water and drink it all down. when finished, they invery the cup and if any water comes out they get to drink another.
That procedure needs to be repeated as often as necessary by direction of medical personnel. If a medic is available he should be checking out the troops at the same time.
When a troop begins to become dehydrated they get less and less thirsty and drink less thus have to be forced to drink. I have been told that IDF requires an officer or NCO to witness piss samples of their troops. If the urine is bright yellow they are usually hydrated well. If the urine is a pale yellow to clear they need to be treated immediately. BTW they drink water till they can pee. Can get to be a chore but better than losing a trooper.
There's more to being a good NCO than getting to wear fancy stripes.
Thank you, I am sending your comments to my son.
I've been getting acclimated for months. This is my second consecutive summer in theater and I've got an idea what to expect.
Drink LOTS of water. Eat LOTS of fruit. (Lack of water can contribute to digestive probles, too).
Frequently today's heat injury is from yesterday's exposure. Exposures are cumulative.
Protect the eyes. UV is all around and will cook them like the whites of eggs only it takes years to notice.
And what most forget is that that the heat and light are reflected by almost every nearby surface. The sand, buildings, concrete barriers, etc are all light colored and reflective. And yes, the concrete will get too hot to sit on or lean against.
Door knobs and handles become dangerous.
Metal objects like tools and weapons become too hot to handle. Don't leave your magazines out and expect to change without fumbling. Watch opening your car or truck door and really watch out for the blast of heat from inside!
Anyway, Protect the skin, drink lots of water, and acclimatize.
Then there is the other extreme.
One summer, while conducting RDMF (Rapidly Deployable Medical Facility) training at Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, the senior Nurse Corps officers (who had never spent two straight hours out of an air conditioned office) were preaching their version of water disciple.
Being a Medical Corps officer, I could tell them to buzz off. Having grown up in Miami, Florida, I ignored their dicta and drank what I knew my body needed on a summer day in the South.
However, one male Nurse Corps officer followed their instructions about water intake to the letter. Three days into the exercise, he collapsed and was air-evaced out of the field to the base hospital.
A few hours later, we got word of his diagnosis: Hyponatremia....................Water poisoning. :-)
Actually, it's the other way around.
The kidney has two functions: waste excretion and water balance.
If you have too little water on board, the kidney will secrete the waste (which gives the urine its color) with as little water as possible in order to conserve water thereby making the urine more deeply yellow.
If you have too much water on board, the kidney will secrete the waste with more water in it in order to get rid of the excess water thereby making the urine more dilute with a pale yellow or clear color.
If you want to prove this, drink a six-pack of beer and let us know if your urine turns darker or lighter. :-)
Have you heard about The “Hugs” Project? It's a great group of people nationwide who are dedicated to sewing and sending evaporative cooling ties to our troops in the "sandbox". They have already sent out over 77,000 homemade "hugs", which sounds like a lot until you consider that we have over 165,000 people in the desert right now. Cooling ties are simple to make but the benefits are dramatic. They can lower body temperatures by 1 to 4 degrees.
This group was started in Edmond, OK in June of 2004 by Ray and Karen Stark and has rapidly spread to 42 states and 7 foreign countries. The need is great and you can help.
They need more people making and sending out "hugs" to our troops. Right now they're working to outfit 700 military members in one unit who are in the midst of the Sunni Triangle and they need a morale booster in the worst way. If you think you might be interested in learning more about how you can help, please send an email to: thehugsproject@cox.net and you'll be sent all the information. Each person is funding their own efforts, buying their own material and postage. These hugs cost less than $1 each to construct and mail and there is nothing that someone could buy and send to the military people in the Middle East that they would appreciate more.
Maybe you have a loved one serving in the desert but even if not, please consider if it were your son or daughter “over there”, your husband or wife. How good would you feel if a group of strangers wanted to give them a "hug" and say, "we appreciate your service to your country"?
Thank you for taking time to read this message. Would you consider joining The “Hugs” Project in time to get our military some relief from the killer heat that’s coming this summer? It’s already over 120 degrees and it’s only May.
Materials needed include 45” desert colored 100% cotton fabric, polymer crystals, sewing machine and thread and a heart for our American military members. If someone has all these things, they can help make a difference in the lives of some of America’s finest young men and women serving in harm’s way. Thank you.
K@ren
The Hugs Project - because every US service member deserves a hug.
It would be best to carry three liters or so of water anywhere you go while in the sandbox. I've got a CamelBak M.U.L.E. here stateside. This is the HotShot version pictured below without any bells or whistles:
~ Blue Jays ~
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