Heat Stroke and Camping

Going camping sounds like an exciting event. Packing your gear, getting your fishing poles, and preparing for a family adventure. What you don't plan for is a heat stroke. My husband and I picked a camping spot about 1/2 a mile from my step mother's farm.It was by a lake and a wide open field. To set up the tent, we need to chop down some over grown grass, and make a trail from our camping spot to the lake. It was about seventy-five or eighty degrees outside, no clouds in site, and the sun was bearing down on us. We had plenty of fluids to keep from getting dehydrated, and a shower tent to cool down with, yet that still wasn't enough. After several hours of cutting away the tall grass with a weed whacker, the job was done. It was about 7 pm, and dinner was ready, but my husband said he could not eat. He wasn't feeling good and complained of a headache. He thought it was because of all the work he had done, and wasn't used to doing, that his body was reacting to over exertion. About an hour later he started vomiting and couldn't stop, and his body was aching. He was not sweating, which is abnormal for him, and felt very weak. My husband decided to get into our vehicle and crank up the air conditioner intending to feel better. After four hours in the air conditioned car, he got up and laid down in the tent. Through the night, he tossed and turned, and by morning he was feeling slightly better. He still vomited a few times, and did not get his appetite back until later the next night, but he made it through. After researching on heat strokes, I realized that my husband could have had a heat stroke. I now know how life threatening the whole situation was.

Medicinenet.com says that, "sometimes a person experiences symptoms of heat exhaustion before progressing to heat strokes", and the symptoms for heat exhaustion include:

* nausea

* vomiting

* fatigue

* weakness

* headache

* muscle cramps and aches

* dizziness

But some people may develop a heat stroke very fast, without signs of heat exhaustion. These are the most common symptoms of a person exhibiting a heat stroke, as reported by Medicinenet.com:

* high body temperature

* the absence of sweating, with hot red, or flushed dry skin

* rapid pulse

* difficulty breathing

* strange behavior

* hallucinations

* confusion

* agitation

* disorientation

* seizure

* coma

If you or any one you know experience any of these symptoms, and there has been prolonged sun or heat exposure, do not hesitate to go to the closest emergency room. Drink plenty of fluids, and try to cool the person down immediately.

When you and your family decide on camping or an outdoor adventure, remember, yes there are mosquitoes that carry diseases, and poisonous snakes that can bite, but there is also heat that can take over your body very quickly and be deadly as well. Stay safe this summer and stay protected.

Sources:

http://www.medicinenet.com/heat_stroke/article.htm