Is your child’s school aware of heat stroke/ heat exhaustion?
Is your child's school aware of heat Stroke and heat exhaustion?
25th June 2017 - updated on 19th August 2020
Last week, a friend of mine received a phone call from school. His daughter had been vomiting, could he please come in and pick her up. He thought about the heatwave we were in, grabbed a thermometer and a cool pack, and headed to school. His daughter was just sat there, with her full uniform on, having barely drunk all day.
He took one look at her, and his suspicion was immediately confirmed. Heat stroke or heat exhaustion. And sure enough, her temperature was 39.1, she had dry skin, had a headache, suffered from tummy pain, was lethargic and had a very fast heart rate of 140. She suffered from heat exhaustion.
School staff had not recognized her symptoms, had not thought that spending three hours outside in the blazing sun was too much; nor had they thought to check all the children were drinking enough water. They hadn't even considered her illness might have had anything to do with the heat.
One day later, another friend of mine told a very similar story, albeit her daughter was in a school at the other end of the country. Again, school had not recognized nor treated the signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion.
How many other kids suffered from this last week, throughout the heat wave? And how few schools thought their discomfort was related to the overly warm temperatures? How many more will suffer and go on suffering, their signs and symptoms unrecognized by those meant to take good care of them?
Body Temperatures
A normal body temperature is just under 37°C. It varies a little from person to person, everyone has their own core temperature.
When the body temperature rises to 38°C, this is considered heat exhaustion. As it reaches 40°C, it becomes heat stroke.
A good way to remember which was one is which is to think that a stroke is always the worst - so heat stroke is the worst of these two.
Heat Exhaustion
Heat Exhaustion can develop within minutes, hours or over several days.
With Heat Exhaustion, the body becomes very hot and starts to lose water and salts. This happens because we start to sweat - the water droplets cool our body down. We may start to feel nauseous, even vomit, and lose our appetite. The pulse will be fast and weak. Due to the loss of body salts/electrolytes (sodium, chloride, potassium, magnesium and calcium), we start to feel cramp in our arms, legs and even abdomen. We may also have a headache, feel dizzy and be a bit confused.
As our temperature is between 38° and 40°C, we will feel hot to the touch but say that we feel cold.
When it gets to Heat Stroke, the body is no longer able to cool itself down and the body temperature becomes dangerously high.
Heat Stroke and Sun Stroke
Heat Stroke can also develop within minutes, hours or over several days.
To get a Heat Stroke, you'll pass through the stages of Heat Exhaustion. So all the signs & symptoms we've described above happen first. But now, our headache will be getting a lot worse, and we might feel as if we're going to die - and without effective treatment, that could indeed happen. The nausea and vomiting may get worse.
At over 40ºC, our body is no longer able to cool itself down. This means that we're no longer able to sweat, and our skin will be flushed, hot and dry. We might get a lowered response and a rapid deterioriation - if this is not treated promptly, the person may well die. There is also the possibility of seizures.
Sun Stroke
is Heat Stroke that is caused by the sun 
.