By Megan Wehring
HAYS COUNTY – A local ER doctor provides families with tips on staying safe and healthy throughout the upcoming Labor Day weekend.
The first thing to be mindful of is the weather – even though the holiday weekend is at the beginning of September, temperatures remain high in Hays County and across Texas.
“It has been raining a lot,” said Jaismeen Nijjar, an emergency care physician at Baylor Scott & White. “But before that, the temperatures are very high outside. It’s hard to escape the heat in Texas but [I would] recommend taking frequent breaks, staying in a shaded area and before you go out, hydrate and then rehydrate.”
There are different heat-related illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Heat stroke, the most serious heat-related illness, occurs when the body can no longer control its temperature. The body’s temperature rises rapidly, the sweating mechanism fails and the body is unable to cool down. When heat stroke occurs, the body temperature can rise to 106 degrees Fahrenheit or higher within 10 to 15 minutes. Heat stroke can cause permanent disability or death if the person does not receive emergency treatment.
Symptoms of heat stroke include:
• Confusion, altered mental status, slurred speech
• Loss of consciousness (coma)
• Hot, dry skin or profuse sweating
• Seizures
• Very high body temperature
• Fatal if treatment delayed
Heat exhaustion is the body’s response to an excessive loss of water and salt, usually through excessive sweating.
Symptoms of heat exhaustion include:
• Headache
• Nausea
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Irritability
• Thirst
• Heavy sweating
• Elevated body temperature
• Decreased urine output
“Heat exhaustion [can occur when] you are sweating a lot,” Nijjar said. “You can faint, you feel nauseous and you feel your muscles cramping. That’s the first part of the spectrum, and you can go into heat stroke when you have more stroke-like symptoms. That’s when you stop sweating and your body temperature starts to get really high.”
Nijjar added that previously, people were told to drink a specific number of gallons of water per day to gain sufficient hydration. However, the goal is to ensure a person’s urine is a pale yellow color.
“You want to make sure you are urinating throughout the day, and you are still able to sweat,” Nijjar said. “If you do feel nauseous or achy, go inside. If you are unable to go inside, you need to stop your activity, make sure you are not doing anything strenuous and go to a shady area away from the sun as much as you are able to. … I can’t emphasize enough how important it is to stay hydrated.”
