Why You Can Trust CNET Heatstroke Safety: How to Spot, Stop and Assist When Someone's In Danger
Here are the warning signs of heatstroke and how to act quickly to help cool someone down.
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Summer 2024 is off to a hot start, with a heat wave blanketing much of the US this week and forecasts for a summer even hotter than last year's record-breaking season. With rising temperatures comes a rising risk of heatstroke, a medical emergency and the most serious heat-related illness.
Heatstroke can happen because of overexertion or strenuous activity, but "classic" heatstrokes occur when someone is exposed to a hot environment and their body temperature rises to dangerous levels. In people who work outside during the summer, most fatal illnesses happen during the first few days of working in or being exposed to hot weather, according to the US Department of Labor Department, because the body has no time to acclimate to the increased temperature.
In addition to workers, heatstroke is especially common among the elderly, very young children, including babies, and in times "when we see these heat waves that go on for several days," Dr. Korin Hudson, an emergency room physician with MedStar Health, told CNET last year.
People with certain medical conditions and those taking certain medications or drugs, including alcohol, may also have a higher risk of heatstroke.
Here's what to know if you or someone near you starts experiencing symptoms of heatstroke.
Heatstroke symptoms
Sometimes, heatstroke can start with symptoms of heat exhaustion, which isn't quite as serious as heatstroke but still requires someone to cool down as quickly as possible. If left untreated, heat exhaustion can progress to heatstroke, which is a medical emergency. If your symptoms worsen, last more than one hour or you start vomiting, call 911.
Symptoms of heatstroke, according to the Mayo Clinic and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, include:
- Altered mental state, including confusion, agitation and slurred speech (this may also result in "odd" behavior)
- Hot, flushed, usually dry skin (or, alternatively, heavy sweating -- if brought on by exercise, heatstroke may include moist skin)
- Headache
- Seizures
- Very high body temperature (104 degrees Fahrenheit or higher)
- Rapid breathing
- Racing heartbeat
- Vomiting
- Loss of consciousness
Keeping hydrated by drinking enough water, both before you head outdoors and while you're out in the heat, is an important step to warding off heat illness.
1. Call 911
Having heatstroke is a medical emergency that requires professional care.
If there's more than one person around to aid the person suffering heatstroke, Hudson advised that one person call 911 while the other helps the person through the steps below.
2. Get to a cooler area immediately
If you're around someone who has heatstroke, move them to a cooler area, such as a nearby air-conditioned room or into the shade.
Either way, "try to move them out of the heat as quickly as possible," Hudson said. The goal is to cool down the body's core temperature.
3. Take off excess clothing
Removing long-sleeve shirts, pants or other clothing will help a person cool down faster. Hudson said the goal is to reach "evaporative cooling," and clothing can prevent evaporation. You can also consider cooling clothes that work with your body to keep you cooler and more comfortable.
(For people who choose to run in layers to "sweat off weight," Hudson said, you probably shouldn't. It's dangerous and can lead to heatstroke. You may consider cooling clothes that work with your body to keep you cooler and more comfortable.)
4. Hold ice, cold towels or cool water to the skin
If you have something like a cold towel or water bottle, put it on your or the other person's neck, armpits or groin.
While you wait for help to arrive, you can even spray them down with cold water or put them in a cold shower -- anything to cool them off. Cold water immersion or an ice bath is one treatment for heatstroke that doctors may use at the hospital.
Don't force a drink on someone experiencing heatstroke, the CDC says. This is different advice than for someone who's experiencing heat exhaustion, which typically comes before heatstroke. While someone with heat exhaustion may be given sips of water or sports drink, a person experiencing heatstroke may be confused, lose consciousness or have an altered state of consciousness.
"Because they have a depressed or altered level of consciousness, it may affect their ability to swallow safely, so it's probably better not to give them anything to eat or drink," she said.
Before and after heatstroke: check on your neighbors
Some people are more susceptible to heat illness and heatstroke, such as older adults, younger children, people with mobility issues, certain health conditions and those taking certain medications, including common drugs like blood pressure or antidepressant medications.
In case of a heat wave, be especially mindful to check in with your elderly neighbor down the hall, or a friend who has trouble getting around, according to Hudson.
"This is the time that we really suggest people check on their neighbors," she said. "Especially in places where people don't have access to air conditioning or don't have a way to get someplace cool."
"They may be feeling poorly but can't do anything about it," Hudson added.
