During Cayman’s hot and humid summer months, visitors and residents alike are susceptible to heat exhaustion and to potentially deadly heatstroke.
Heat exhaustion, if left untreated, can lead to heatstroke or hyperthermia in which the body is unable to regulate its temperature.
This can lead to seizures, coma and in some cases, death, as was tragically seen last week when 21-year-old American Daniel Hamilton, who was volunteering on the Blue Iguana programme, died from suspected heatstroke.
Symptoms
Symptoms of heat exhaustion include:
excessive sweating, nausea and vomiting, feeling light-headed or faint, tiredness, headache and muscle cramps.
If heat exhaustion develops into heatstroke, a person will feel confused and disoriented, have rapid and shallow breathing and seizures.
There are two forms of heatstroke. Exertional heatstroke generally occurs in younger people doing strenuous physical activity for a prolonged period of time in a hot environment, while classic non-exertional heatstroke more commonly affects sedentary elderly individuals, people who are chronically ill and the very young. Classic non-exertional heatstroke is more common during heat waves in areas that are normally cold.
Both types of heatstroke can lead to death if treatment is delayed.
Causes
Heat exhaustion and heatstroke can affect anyone, but some people run a higher risk of developing them than others.
These include babies, children and older people, who have less efficient body cooling systems. People who have been ill and suffering from diarrhoea are also susceptible to heatstroke as they are already dehydrated.
Those living in the tropics already and who are used to hot weather and how to deal with it are not as likely to succumb to heatstroke as someone from a cooler climate whose body is not used to the heat.
High humidity is also a factor in sunstroke as it reduces the effectiveness of sweating and decreases the amount of heat emitting from the body.
People with diabetes, obesity and chronic heart conditions have lower cooling mechanisms and also run a risk of developing heatstroke in a warm climate.
For a holiday destination like Cayman, drinking alcoholic beverages in the sun also poses a problem as alcohol dehydrates the body.
Treatment
People with heatstroke should seek medication attention immediately. If you’re within someone who shows any of the above symptom
s, get that person to a hospital as quickly as possible as heatstroke is a medical emergency and can be fatal.
If left untreated, the affected person could slip into a coma within minutes. Excess body heat can lead to heart failure, kidney failure or brain damage.
At the hospital or in an ambulance, medical professionals will try to bring the body temperature back to a normal level, and through intravenous drips replace the water and salt content the body has lost.
Anyone affected by heat exhaustion should rest in a cool, shaded place, or preferably an air-conditioned room if one is available; drink cool drinks, ideally a sports drink that replaces electrolytes; take a cool shower or bath, soak feet in cold water or put a wet cold towel or scarf over the shoulders.
Avoid
To avoid getting heat exhaustion or heatstroke, stay in the shade as much as possible, drink lots of cold (non-alcoholic) drinks, avoid caffeine and don’t over
-exert yourself on hot days.
If you’re exercising outside, do it in a cooler part of the day, early in the morning or in the evening, and remember to drink plenty of fluids.
Wear loose-fitting cotton clothes that will keep you cool. If you are displaying signs of heat exhaustion, remove some clothing to try to cool down.
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