Dr. Douglas Casa came to UWL a couple of weeks ago and shared with us how to prevent sudden death in athletes with a focus on heat illness. The main problem we discussed is heat stroke. Before we get into the recommendations I want to make sure that I reference that all this information is from Dr. Casa and the Korey Stringer Institute. It was just too important not to share.
Through Dr. Casa’s research and his own interventions when covering events they have found a 100% survivability in a heat stroke event. The goal for anyone dealing with a heat event is get the person under 104degF in the first 30 minutes. So far that has produced 100% survivability.
There are four elements of surviving heat stroke:
- Recognize
- Rectal Temperature
- Rapid Cooling (Cold water immersion is best)
- Cool First, Transport Second
When all four of these steps are followed and we can get core body temperature down we can help everyone who suffered from heat stroke survive. With summer coming right around the corner and more road races and other events occurring these steps need to be implemented. Check out more resources below.
Twitter: Dr. Douglas Casa
LINK: Korey Stringer Institute