How to prevent heatstroke? What to do if you have heatstroke?
Treatment and Medication
Patients with heat cramps and heat exhaustion should be quickly moved to a cool, ventilated place to rest or lie still. Orally consume cool salt water and other refreshing, salt-containing beverages. For those with peripheral circulatory failure, intravenous administration of normal saline, glucose solution, and potassium chloride is required. Most patients recover within 30 minutes to several hours after treatment.
Heatstroke has a severe prognosis with a mortality rate of 5% to 30%. Therefore, the following first-aid measures should be taken immediately.
Physical Cooling
To rapidly lower the patient's high body temperature, the patient can be immersed in 4°C water while the skin of the limbs is massaged. This dilates skin blood vessels, accelerates blood circulation, and promotes heat dissipation. During the physical cooling process, the rectal temperature must be monitored and recorded at all times. When the rectal temperature drops to 38.5°C, cooling should be stopped immediately, and the patient should be moved to an environment with a room temperature below 25°C for continued close observation. If the body temperature rises again, the patient can be re-immersed in 4°C water or sponged down with cool water or showered. Alternatively, ice packs can be applied to the head, armpits, and groin, and an electric fan can be used to blow air to accelerate heat dissipation and prevent the temperature from rising. Elderly, weak, and patients with cardiovascular diseases often cannot tolerate immersion in 4°C water. Some patients who are not deeply comatose may experience muscle tremors when immersed in 4°C water, which can instead increase heat production and burden the heart. Other physical cooling methods should be used for these patients.
Drug Cooling
Chlorpromazine has pharmacological effects such as regulating the central thermoregulatory function, dilating blood vessels, relaxing muscles, and reducing oxygen consumption, making it a common drug to assist physical cooling. The dose is 25-50mg added to 500ml of infusion for intravenous drip over 1-2 hours. Blood pressure should be monitored during administration. If blood pressure drops, the drip rate should be slowed or the drug stopped. For hypotension, intramuscular injection of metaraminol bitartrate (Aramine), phenylephrine hydrochloride (Neo-Synephrine), or other alpha-receptor agonists should be administered.
Symptomatic Treatment
Keep the patient's airway clear and provide oxygen. The rate of intravenous fluid infusion should not be too fast, and the volume should be appropriate to avoid increasing the burden on the heart and triggering heart failure. Correct water, electrolyte, and acid-base disturbances. Use vasopressors for shock and rapid-acting digitalis preparations for heart failure. For patients suspected of having cerebral edema, mannitol should be given for dehydration. Patients with acute renal failure may require hemodialysis. When disseminated intravascular coagulation occurs, heparin should be used, and antifibrinolytic drugs can be added if necessary. The use of adrenocorticosteroids in heatstroke patients is still a subject of debate. It is generally believed that adrenocorticosteroids have a certain effect on the body's stress and tissue responses caused by high temperatures, as well as in preventing and treating cerebral and pulmonary edema. However, the dose should not be too large and the duration of use should not be too long to avoid secondary infections.
Other
Heatstroke patients require meticulous care, especially comatose heatstroke patients who are highly susceptible to pulmonary infections and bedsores. Provide nutritious food and various vitamins B and C to promote the patient's early recovery.
To prevent heatstroke, working and living conditions should be fundamentally improved. Heat sources should be isolated, workshop temperatures lowered, work schedules adjusted, and refreshing beverages with 0.3% salt content should be provided. Knowledge about the prevention and treatment of heatstroke should be publicized, especially the early symptoms of heatstroke. Individuals with organic cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, organic central nervous system diseases, and significant respiratory, digestive, or endocrine system diseases, as well as liver and kidney diseases, should be considered contraindicated for employment in high-temperature workshops.
Simple Emergency Treatment for Heatstroke
When you or others experience symptoms of premonitory and mild heatstroke, the first thing to do is to quickly leave the high-temperature environment that caused the heatstroke and rest in a cool, ventilated place. Drink plenty of refreshing beverages containing salt. You can also apply cooling oil or medicated oil to the forehead and temples, or take traditional Chinese medicines like Ren Dan, Shi Di Shui, or Huo Xiang Zheng Qi Shui. If blood pressure drops or collapse occurs, lie down immediately and seek prompt hospital treatment for intravenous saline drip. For severe heatstroke cases, in addition to immediately moving the person from the high-temperature environment to a cool, ventilated place, they should also be rapidly transported to the hospital while comprehensive measures are taken for treatment. If far from medical facilities,