Nurses Ready for Summer Heat Related Emergencies
Summer is here and Americans are hitting the outdoor life. Children are out on summer breaks from school and summer vacations are in full swing. What could possibly go wrong? One thing for sure is that when people start to spend long periods in the outside heat, there are going to be heat related emergencies.
Signs and symptoms nurses watch for in heat related emergencies
During the course of a nurse education, one key point that is included in all training is how to deal with heat related problems. However, before beginning any treatment for heat, a nurse has to be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of heat emergencies. Let’s take a look at some of the classic warning signs and symptoms:
- Environment – Paying attention to the environment that the patient was in is key. Some of the signs and symptoms may not directly indicate heat related emergencies, so recognizing that the patient was exposed to a high temperature may be a first indication.
- Fatigue – As one of the first signs of any heat emergency, patients will become fatigued. However, many patients tend to ignore this sign and many may just simply be too involved in their activity to even recognize it.
- Hot skin – Patients with heat stroke or exhaustion will demonstrate very hot to the touch and possibly red skin.
- Excessive sweating – Patients in early stages of heat emergencies will sweat profusely. It is a cooling mechanism for the body. However, during later stages, patients will stop sweating, as the body begins to make an attempt to retain fluids.
- Headache – As patients begin to enter severe heat stress or exhaustion they will experience tachycardia. Resulting from this, patients may begin to feel a headache or their heart pounding.
- Nausea, vomiting, and light headed – As some of the most common experience in patients, Nausea, vomiting, and light headed will set in. This is the time that many patients may realize they are beginning to have problems with the heat. However, instead of getting out of the heat, patients may simply try to sit it out without realizing the heat is still taking its toll on their bodies.
- Confusion – Patients in late stages of heat emergencies may become confused or disoriented. It is at this point that patients may not have the competence to remove themselves from the heat and get medical help. Often times, it is only when friends or family realize the problem at this stage and take action.
- Shortness of breath – As patients enter into late stages, they begin to experience difficulty breathing. This happens as their body is trying to increase oxygen levels due to stresses on internal organs and dehydration.
- Coma or Seizures – In the final stage of heat emergency, patients may fall into coma or seizures. Patients at this stage will no longer have the ability to care for themselves. If they continue to remain exposed to the heat, these patients will die.
Nurses can save the lives of patients in heat emergency
Every nurse, from LPNs to RNs receives training in dealing with heat related emergencies. It is part of some of the most basic training they receive in their extensive training. However, as most healthcare professionals will tell you, treating emergencies requires more than just training in procedures. It requires understanding the pathophysiology of the problem. By understanding how a heat emergency occurs, a nurse can more easily treat the emergency.
Nurses understand exactly how heat can affect the function of the human body. Their training teaches them all of the intricate details on how it occurs and how to treat and solve the problem. As summer approaches, nurses are ready for these emergencies. They are ready to treat heat related problems from the most basic level of just simply cooling the patient down, all the way to the more advanced issues of treating patient with intravenous fluids and pharmacological drugs.
Remember, summer is here and so is the hot daytime sun. Treat your body right by keeping your body temperature moderated. The more you protect yourself; the least likely you are to have a problem. But, should a heat related emergency occur, nurses will be ready to help.
