in a child or elderly, those with chronic illnesses (or somebody taking anti
psychotic meds) or mental confusion, heat stroke can be life threatening and calls
for a visit to an emergency room.
The problem is the mental confusion. My friend Jo Ann was rather incoherent and when
I asked her what her temp was and had she been drinking gatorade... she wasnt
responding and told me she was going to bed. With heat stroke you go to bed and the
temp keeps rising and then you slip into a coma. Her husband was already asleep and
(sorry men) not terribly "responsive" in general. I called her daughter who was
there in 10 minutes, got her mom up and into the shower and started taking her
temperature every 15 minutes or so, kept her drinking the gatorade and kept her awake
until her temp came back down. Then stayed overnight checking her mothers temp every
hour to make sure she was fine. Unless there is a responsible other person who will
monitor the situation, it really is better to go to an emergency room.
A warning. having had heat stroke seems to either cause or predict a
predisposition. Jo Ann now takes her temp when she is feeling a little weak after
being out in the heat and she drinks electrolytes. She now uses Propel cause there
isnt the sugar like in Gatorade. She basically tries to stay out of the heat as much
as possible, or limits her time outdoors when heat is intense. Ingrid

"Sue Alexandre" wrote:
Even heat exhaustion is considered an emergency? I thought, from reading
some websites, that heat cramps and heat exhaustion were manageable, but
that the heat stroke should be tended to by medical professionals.
Luckily I think I'm OK..... still a little more tired than usual today, but
took a nap after work and I seem to be fine. I'm continuing to hydrate with
lots of water though, at least for another day or two. Heck, with this
non-stop rain, that shouldn't be hard to do!
Thanks.
Sue

"FIRE224U" wrote in message
...
Both are true emergencies and EMS should be called.

Scott in Louisiana
Firefighter/EMT