able to cool itself down.
Unlike heat cramps, symptoms for heat exhaustion can range from mild to severe. Like heat cramps, the num- ber one cause of heat exhaustion is dehydration, because your body has not replaced the electrolytes lost during periods of excessive sweating. Symptoms of heat exhaustion can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, headaches, fatigue, feeling faint and weakness. Other lesser-known symp- toms of heat exhaustion can be pale and moist skin. If you notice someone working in extreme heat looking pale and clammy, this indicates that some- thing serious is going on. Failure to treat heat exhaustion in a timely manner may cause permanent damage to organs and even death. Heat Stroke The most serious of the three heat- related illnesses is heat stroke. This hap- pens when the body temperature rises dramatically above 104 degrees Fahren- heit and can be a deadly condition. There are two different types of heat stroke: exertional heatstroke and non- exertional heatstroke. Tree care workers are most likely to experience exertional
Keep your body cool by removing excess clothing and placing damp, cool cloths on the neck and head.
ples or red blisters and typically form in areas like the crease of your elbow, under your breasts, on the upper chest and neck, as well as the groin area. Clammy skin, dizziness, weakness, and extreme sweating can accompany heat cramps. Heat Exhaustion The next level of heat-related illness is heat exhaustion, which occurs when the body heats up too much and is un-
• Feet • Legs • Rib cage • Shoulders
Heat cramps are caused by a loss of electrolytes in the body (salt and nutri- ents) through excessive sweating. We’ve been taught from a young age to drink water when it’s hot and you’re sweating. However, this is two-fold. Drinking too much water during very hot conditions, combined with exces- sive sweating, means you’re flushing out those electrolytes faster than tak- ing them in. As your body temperature rises, some changes occur. Unlike a normal fever, where the brain’s hypothalamus in- creases your body’s set-point tempera- ture, your brain does not intentionally increase your body’s temperature. Instead, you’ll start experiencing symp- toms like heat cramps as your tempera- ture rises. Another side effect of excessive sweat- ing due to heat is heat rashes, which oen accompany heat cramps.
Heat rash, commonly known as prickly heat, sweat rash, or miliaria, presents as a skin condition characterized by pimple-like eruptions due to clogged sweat ducts.
These rashes will look like small pim-
24 | ArborTIMES Summer 2024
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