Posted on 06/05/2024 6:27:51 AM PDT by ChicagoConservative27
The season’s first heat wave is already baking the Southwest with triple-digit temperatures as firefighters in Phoenix — America’s hottest big city — employ new tactics in hopes of saving more lives in a county that saw 645 heat-related deaths last year.
Starting this season, the Phoenix Fire Department is immersing heatstroke victims in ice on the way to area hospitals.
The medical technique, known as cold water immersion, is familiar to marathon runners and military service members and has also recently been adopted by Phoenix hospitals as a go-to protocol, said Fire Capt. John Prato.
Prato demonstrated the method earlier this week outside the emergency department of Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix, packing ice cubes inside an impermeable blue bag around a medical dummy representing a patient.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
You make a good point. I think this technique is one that should only be used by professionals. If you feel effects coming on but not yet heatstroke you might be better off with partial immersion (like hands in very cold water to drain off heat more slowly). Probably some real experts online here
Yep, good points- life must go on even in extreme heat and cold even. It takes a body in good physical condition to work in such extremes.
I went to Florida for 1 semester of college, and wow was the heat plus humidity brutal, and that was when I was feeling better, and in better health- i could have wo4ked in those comditions back then, but I don’t even want to try it these days— 100 plus humid is enough to sideline me these days
“I went to Nevada and the temperature was over 100 degrees. I barely broke out a sweat because there is no humidity.”
indeed ... but you were rapidly dehydrating without knowing it ... phenomena is even more pronounced at high desert altitudes ...
“… I barely broke out a sweat because there is no humidity...”
I went to AZ in August, did a night swim in my friend’s pool. Nearly froze in 90 degree heat because the evaporation rate was so high.
“I see the benefit of rapid cooling in heatstroke but wonder also if the shock of suddenly cooling and overheated patient could trigger cardiac disturbances like a dangerously fast rhythm?”
or cardiac arrest ... as a kid we were always warned about jumping into cold showers after overheating ...
That is why I pointed out that it is a huge city, a huge population and people of all ages and conditions,with all different levels of awareness and carelessness, knowledge, discipline.
I barely broke out a sweat because there is no humidity.
= = =
You were sweating. It just evaporated very quickly.
Try Houston when it is 95 or 100 degrees and humid, you have to stop work because you can’t sweat, you can still have all the energy and be raring to go but with no heat release you have to force yourself to stop what you are doing, that stopping can be maddening when you are chomping at the bit to finish but if your inside temp has reached the danger zone you just have to force yourself to stop.
I meant post 28 for you.
A fri3nd went to the oil fields in Texas, and he said people were getting lots of kidney stones apparently from drinking Gatorade all day due to the extreme heat and humidity. I would imagine such conditions must be brutal,on the kidneys if folks are getting dehydrated often without realizing it.
Imagine what school was like for us in Houston before A/C, I would love to hear the old teachers describe how our classroom behavior would change in the hot months.
Yep, moved to AZ 5 years ago, Summer is hot, but not stifling due to the lack of humidity. If you stay in the shade, it’s comfortable above 100.
It’s 108 in Eilat.
Ask any Vietnam Vet about high temps and high humidity together. I was 19-20 yrs old, in the best physical condition of my life, and even after a few months for the body to acclimate, it still sucked, BIG TIME.
One only needs to stick one’s arms or lower legs in an ice bath to treat heat stroke.
The colder blood from the extremities will quickly circulate around, and cool, the body. Marathon runners may have the ability to withstand a shock of total immersion, but an overweight, diabetic grandmother, who probably are most likely to arrive with such a condition, would not.
I don’t really think it’s fear porn. They’re really talking about a new treatment. Those of us that live around here know the drill. At some point you’re going to put yourself on the dehydration-heat exhaustion-heat stroke scale. It’s inevitable. You try to stay aware of it to help avoid it, but it does happen. New treatments are good. The interesting thing here is they’d always said not to cool down fast, now the thinking seems to be changing.
Or work outside, or hike, or play in the yard. Overheating isn’t that hard, especially if you’re at all active outside.
Yep, my dad went to a 1 room schoolhouse- during the heat it must have been pretty brutal, but everyone was suffering, so it was “the norm” so to speak-
During the worst of the hea and humidity, when it’s really causing me to feel sick, weak etc- I found that just running my hair under colder water, leaving it dripping (the hu idity causes dripping sweat anyway, why not let the water drip too?) And the sitting in front of a fan till the cold water in the hair dries some is about all I can do to stay cool and get feeling a bit better. That and one of those gel freeze packs and put it on the neck- that helps a lot too.
The worst though is sleeping In High humidity. Not much can be done about that If there is no air-conditioner. A fan just pushes hot air around when it gets hot and humid enough. Not much relief, but the wet hair trick does help quite a bit
IMO, you should acclimate as much as possible to the heat. Sure you should do things like use sun shades, stay out of the heat in prime hours, use air conditioning within reason, etc.
You see landscapers outside in long pants and long sleeved shirts (smart), they aren't dropping.
If they think they can come here and live like they lived in Massachusetts or they really detest the heat, probably not a good place for them to live.
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