Fit and Well Idaho: Heat related illnesses

TWIN FALLS, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — Heat related illnesses begin with heat cramps, which is when your muscles and stomach begin to cramp up.

When you notice that, you should stop what you are doing and go somewhere cool.

Heat exhaustion is next, and typically follows heat cramps, which is when your body has lost an excessive amount of salt and water, usually through sweating and you may begin to feel nauseous, dizzy, or even faint.

If you don’t control the heat exhaustion, heat stroke will be next.

Heat stroke is life threatening and occurs when your core body temperature has reached 104 degrees or more and the body can no longer cool itself down through sweating.

The person is acting confused and will have an altered mental status.

“It is life threatening and an emergency, and you have to cool people the right way, and you have to cool people the right way, if you do it too fast, or the wrong way it can make it worse, and once they get to that heat stroke phase, they need treatment, it’s a life threatening emergency, people die from that often, so it’s really important to call 911 or get them to the hospital,” said Randy Morris, a clinical educator and paramedic at Magic Valley Paramedics.

The best way to prevent this is by drinking water and more water than you think you need.

He says if you have underlying health conditions, you may be more prone to these heat related illnesses, so it doesn’t have to be extremely hot for these illnesses to occur.

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