SAFE Boulder

Preventing and Treating Heat-Related Illness While Living Outside

July 12th, 2024

      What Is Heat Illness?

      Causes of Heat Illness

      Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment of Mild Heat Illness

      More Serious Heat Illness

        Signs and Symptoms

        Treatment for Heat Exhaustion

        Treatment for Heat stroke

      Preventing Heat Illness

        Risk factors

        Seeking medical care

      Heat illness in pets

        Prevention

        Signs of serious heat illness in pets

        Cooling your pet

      Sources

This zine was largely copied from the NOLS Wilderness Medicine website on heat-related illness (which you can find linked under Sources). It has been edited by SAFE Boulder to include locally relevant information, and to expand the scope to those living outside rather than simply recreating.

What Is Heat Illness?

Heat illness isn’t just one thing. It’s a spectrum of signs and symptoms that occur when your body’s heat production is greater than its heat loss. It’s especially common to see heat illness at hot times of the year; in the Boulder area, it’s most likely in July and August.

Heat illness is fairly straightforward to prevent with the proper supplies, but it can escalate into a life-threatening condition without proper prevention.

We’ll take a look at the causes and signs and symptoms of heat illness, then ways to prevent it.

Causes of Heat Illness

Signs, Symptoms, and Treatment of Mild Heat Illness

Treatment: Have the patient lie flat in a cool environment and elevate their legs. Keep the patient hydrated and be sure to replenish salt as well as water to avoid hyponatremia (a condition caused by low sodium in the blood). You can also cool the patient by applying cold packs or ice packs in areas with large blood vessels near the skin. The most effective areas are the neck, armpits, groin, and torso.

For heat cramps, gently straighten the muscles. Avoid massaging them, since this could make the cramps worse. For heat edema, compression socks can help if available.

More Serious Heat Illness

Heat Exhaustion and Heat Stroke

Signs and Symptoms

Heat Exhaustion

Elevated heart rate

Elevated respiratory rate

Skin pale, cool, clammy

Alert

Temperature normal or slightly elevated

Headache, nausea, weakness, tiredness

Heat Stroke

Elevated heart rate

Elevated respiratory rate

Skin pale, warm, clammy

Altered mental status (disoriented or unresponsive)

Temperature higher than 104°F (39.5°C)

Treatment for Heat Exhaustion
Treatment for Heat stroke

Preventing Heat Illness

Risk factors

People at higher risk of heat-related illnesses include:

Seeking medical care

Heat illness in pets

Prevention

Mammalian pets can overheat long before we do, and unlike people, they don’t sweat, and have to rely on panting to cool down. Older pets and brachycephalic dogs may be at higher risk.

To keep your pet safe, provide plenty of water and try to spend time in the shade. Avoid leaving them alone in a car or a tent.

Signs of serious heat illness in pets
Cooling your pet

Wet your pet’s body with cool water, focusing on the neck, chest, and abdomen. Fan them if possible.

You can also apply a cold pack or ice pack in the armpit, but wrap it in a cloth; don’t touch it directly to their skin.

Sources

American Animal Hospital Association. Too Hot to Handle: A Guide to Heatstroke in Pets. 2024 Jul 2. AAHA.org [accessed 2024 Jul 12]. https://www.aaha.org/resources/too-hot-to-handle-a-guide-to-heatstroke-in-pets/

CDC. 2024 Feb 20. People at Increased Risk for Heat-Related Illness. Extreme Heat. [accessed 2024 Jul 12]. https://www.cdc.gov/extreme-heat/risk-factors/index.html

Lipman GS et al. 2019. Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Heat Illness: 2019 Update. Journal of Wilderness & Environmental Medicine. 30(4_suppl):S33–S46. doi:10.1016/j.wem.2018.10.004

NOLS Blog. Preventing and Treating Heat Illness. [accessed 2024 Jul 11]. https://blog.nols.edu/2015/08/11/preventing-and-treating-heat-illness

Wasserman DD, Creech JA, Healy M. 2024. Cooling Techniques for Hyperthermia. In: StatPearls. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing. [accessed 2024 Jul 12]. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK459311/


We created this zine to hand out alongside ice packs and gatorade as a deadly heatwave swept accross our region. At time of posting, that heatwave is continuing east across North America, and more will certainly follow in the coming months and years as the climate crisis worsens. While this zine contains a couple sentences specific to so-called Boulder Colorado, it should still be broadly applicable, and we encourage people to print and distribute it anywhere that’s affected by extreme heat. We note that the advice contained within is not particularly useful without the supplies needed to follow it, and we recommend accompanying this zine with water, electrolyte powder, frozen water bottles, and instant cold packs.