Natural Disasters and Impacts on Health 2F
Natural Disasters and Impacts on Health 2F : Heat Waves. Heat waves are known as the silent natural disaster. Between 1979 and 1999, over 8,000 people in the United States died from hyperthermic illness. This represents more deaths than earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, lightening, and floods combined. The immediate health effects of a heat wave are first noticeable among vulnerable populations within an affected area. The elderly, the very young, and the sick are all especially vulnerable to heat stress, which can eventually convey a patient from heat exhaustion to the potentially fatal heat stroke. It is important to note however that the young and healthy are also susceptib le to heat illness if the proper precautions are not taken. Heat illnesses are preventable by remaining in the hot weather for only short periods at a time. Maintaining body fluid status by drinking plenty of liquids and abstaining from alcoholic or caffeinated beverages also help prevent heat illnesses. Treatment of later stages of heat illness, such as heat stroke, includes rapid cooling of the body and urgent fluid and electrolyte replacement. When cooling is initiated, the core body temperature must be monitored in order to guard against rebound hyperthermia or inadvertent hypothermia. The mortality rate for heat stroke is directly related to the duration and severity of the hyperthermia as well as timeliness of diagnosis and treatment.
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