 Another senseless death of an Air Force member. This young airman didn't die from a vehicle accident, a fall, or a thousand other accidents that happen to airmen every year. He died from an easily preventable injury if only the warnings had been seen. By who? His supervisor? His buddies? And his own body. What did this young airman succumb to? Heat stress. Every year we lose many seemingly healthy airmen to heat stress regardless of age, athletic ability, or type of job. Heat stress impacts not only your mission, but your health and safety. Heat stress is often driven by three primary factors, environmental conditions, work and rest schedules, and our personal training and nutritional habits. Four environmental factors affect the amount of stress a worker faces in a hot work area. Temperature, humidity, radiant heat, and wind speed. Individuals with high blood pressure, heart conditions, and people who take water pills may be more sensitive to heat exposure. Heat stress ranges from mild to severe. When the body becomes overheated, a condition of heat stress exists. Many people confuse these disorders, but it is important to be able to recognize each one and know what to do when it happens. This includes fainting, heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Fainting usually happens to someone who is not used to working in the hot environment and simply stands around. Moving around rather than standing still will usually reduce the likelihood of fainting. Symptoms include a brief loss of consciousness, sweaty skin but a normal body temperature, and no signs of heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Recovery from fainting can be accomplished by laying the individual down in a cool place, but seek medical attention if the individual does not recover after a brief period of lying down. Most of us have had at least a mild form of heat rash or prickly heat. This skin rash is caused by heat and humidity and normally is cleared up by rest in a cool place. Continued exertion can often lead to cramps. Heat cramps are involuntary muscle spasms that usually occur during heavy exercise in hot environments. They occur when a worker drinks a lot of water but does not replace salts lost from sweating. Heat exhaustion is the mildest form of general heat related illness. Symptoms include dizziness, headache, fatigue, nausea, vomiting, and lightheadedness. Individuals suffering from heat exhaustion will have a normal mental status but individuals showing an altered mental status may have a much more serious condition. Heat stroke is the most serious health problem for people working in the heat but is not very common. It is caused by the failure of the body to regulate its core temperature. Sweating stops and the body can't get rid of excess heat. Victims will die unless they receive proper treatment promptly. Symptoms of heat stroke include mental confusion, delirium, fainting, or seizures. Body temperature of 106 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. Hot, dry skin, usually red or bluish color. If an individual is suspected of heat stroke, seek emergency medical assistance immediately. Move victim to a cool area, soak the victim with cool water, fan the victim vigorously to increase cooling. Now that we have looked at the forms of heat stress, what can be done to prevent or at least lower the risk of developing heat stress? When looking at reducing heat stress, we look at four areas. Engineering controls, work practices, personal protective equipment, and training. A number of engineering controls can help reduce heat exposure. These include general and local exhaust ventilation in areas of high heat, shielding of radiant heat sources such as fire, furnaces, or hot machinery, use of cooling fans or personal cooling devices such as cooling vests, and power tools can reduce manual labor. When we talk about work practices, we look at clothing, drinking, work schedules, acclimation, and body weight. Wear loose fitting, lightweight clothing such as cotton to allow sweat to evaporate. Light colors absorb less heat than dark colors. When working outside, try and wear a lightweight hat with a good brim to keep the sun off your face. Drink plenty of liquids, especially if your urine is dark yellow, to replace the fluids you lose from sweating, as much as one quart per hour may be necessary. Water and or sports drinks are recommended. Since caffeine is a diuretic, beverage such as cola, iced tea, and coffee should be avoided. Thirst is not a reliable sign that your body needs fluid. When doing heavy work, it is better to sip rather than gulp the liquids and they should be cool, not ice cold. Alter your work schedules. If possible, heavy work should be scheduled during the cooler parts of the day. Otherwise, alternate heavy work in the heat with lighter work or work in cooler areas. Acclimate your personnel. New employees and workers returning from an absence of two weeks or more should have five days to get used to the heat. Begin with 50% of the normal workload and time exposure the first day and gradually build up to 100% on the fifth day. Workers may be at greater risk of heat stress if they lose more than 1.5% of their body weight in a single day from sweating. Personal protective equipment for prevention of heat stress is limited, but when work must proceed in hot conditions, personal cooling systems may help reduce the risk of heat stress. Heat reflective clothing may alleviate the problem of radiant heat sources such as fire. However, if the worker is fully covered, he or she will have trouble evaporating sweat. From a safety perspective, heat stress can make you feel tired and irritable, but mainly can reduce your ability to concentrate resulting in mishaps. In very hot environments, more than a liter of sweat can be lost each hour. A person can quickly become dehydrated. Even when temperatures are cool, individuals can still become susceptible to heat stress and may not take preventative measures until it is too late. So now that we know what causes heat stress, the symptoms, and first aid, how do we prevent heat stress? Know the signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses. Monitor yourself and your coworkers. Block out direct sun or other heat sources. Use cooling fans and air conditioning. Rest regularly. Drink lots of water, about 1 cup every 15 minutes. Wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothes if possible. Avoid alcohol, caffeinated drinks, or heavy meals. While these steps to preventing heat stress work, they are not possible for many everyday jobs in the military. Our jobs often put us in harm's way, battling heat whether from the sun or fire or furnace, often wearing bulky gear to protect us, but the same gear can cause heat stress rapidly. One of our most useful tools in preventing heat stress is training. You and your supervisors need to be trained to be able to detect early signs of heat stress. You must understand the need to replace fluids and salt from sweat and recognize the signs of dehydration, feigning, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. Workers should be encouraged to drink plenty of fluids and be on the lookout for signs of heat stress. Heat stress leads to an increase in mishaps. Discomfort, reduced mental acuity, and decline in attention to detail may increase the likelihood of error and associated mishaps. Heat and humidity can also lead to accidents resulting from the slipperiness of sweaty palms. As a worker moves from a cold to a hot environment, fogging of eyeglasses or face mask can briefly obscure vision, presenting an additional safety hazard. While this video has primarily depicted civil engineering personnel, the facts of heat stress affect each and every one of us regardless of the job. Our personnel today must have the capacity to operate through all environmental extremes, often while wearing cumbersome protective equipment. This is not to imply there is a quick fix to heat stress. Heat stress is a fact of our environment and our own physical limitations. The aim of each and every one of us is to find the optimal balance of environmental conditions, work and rest schedules, fluid intake, and mission-imposed stress to prevent performance decay or physical injury directly related to exertion. Don't be the next one to take this trip because of heat stress. Know and watch your personnel, your coworkers, and yourself. Remember, heat can kill.