Red Cross Blogs

Danger: hot weather!

By Mark Cox
July 2, 2010 at 2:00 pm

Notice on behalf of the British weather:
“We apologise for this temporary interruption to the usual British summertime weather. Of course, we are working hard to ensure the speedy return of intermittent rain, cloudy weekends and days that start promisingly but soon become overcast. In the meantime, please do not wear socks with your sandals.”

The British weather – you’ve got to love it. One week you’re paddling down the high street in a dinghy, and the next peeling layers of burned skin off your forehead. As temperatures get set to hit 30 degrees this weekend, here are some hot weather safety tips to help you deal with two sun-related conditions:

Heat exhaustion
In hot weather, the body sometimes produces more heat than it can cope with. This leads to excessive sweating (eughh!) and a loss of salt and water from the body. When this happens, casualties will likely suffer from headaches, dizziness and nausea. Look out for pale, clammy skin.

Treatment
1. Help the casualty to a cool, shady place. Get them to lie down and raise and support their legs to improve blood flow to brain.

2. Give them plenty of water to drink. Oral rehydration salts or isotonic drinks will also help.

3. Monitor and record their vital signs – level of response, breathing, pulse etc.

4. If their vital signs worsen, call 999/112 for emergency help.

Heatstroke
This is more serious. When the body becomes dangerously over-heated, your brain’s ‘thermostat’ can malfunction and lose the ability to regulate body temperature. Heatstroke can develop with little warning – casualties often cease sweating and can lose consciousness within minutes, so you’ll need to react quickly. With this one, look out for hot, flushed and dry skin.

Treatment
1. Quickly move the casualty to a cool place and remove as much outer clothing as possible. Call 999/112 for emergency help.

2. Help the casualty sit down and wrap them in a cold, wet sheet until their temperature falls to 38 degrees under the tongue or 37.5 degrees under the armpit. Keep pouring cold water over the casualty or sponge them with cold water.

3. Once their temperature is normal, replace the wet sheet with a dry one.

4. Monitor and record their vital signs – level of response, breathing, pulse etc. If the temperature rises again, repeat the cooling process.

For more handy tips, visit our heatwave page or make a wise investment in a first aid manual. Oh, and enjoy the sunny weekend!

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Tags: First aid, first aid tips, heatwave, hot weather

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