Dehydration

Jos

Jos

Joined
Oct 23, 2006
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As I'm working in the Middle East (Qatar), and it's the hottest period of the year, I need some dehydration prevention tips.

The advice from our safety department is to drink plenty of cool water, avoid coffee, tea, alcohol and soft drinks, and to sit in a cool place regularly.

My question now: what to do if you find yourself without a cool place? For example if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere?

And if symptoms of dehydration are showing, how can they be stopped and reversed? Rehydration salts? Sport drinks (isostar for example)?

Thanks in advance for your input.
 
Jos,

Please be adviced that drinking ONLY water, will get your minerals out of your body within a few days, when you're sweating heavely!! A friend of mine got sick that way a few years ago. They told him to drink water only. Since there are not much minerals etc in water, he got sick. because he had to do hard work, and he sweated extremely. And lost a lot of minerals and other important vitamins.
Drink enough water, but also some sportdrinks (Isostar/Gatorade/etc), to fill up the mineral and other shortages you get from drinking water only, during heavy exercise!

Have a good trip!

CZ
 
You'll only lose the electolytes in your sweat for the first 3-4 weeks in the hot environment. As you become acclimatised you'll begin to sweat less 'salts' and you need to take less in to compensate. My tips are

1) Pre-Acclimatisation. Do some treadmill or stationary bike workouts in the month before you go with some added heat stress. The Aussie sports teams train wearing extra clothing (in a very controlled fashion), even light neoprene wet-suits, in the weeks before travelling to compete in SE Asia. This is to expose the body to a bit of heat stress so that it begins the processes (such as increasing it's fluid volume) that begin acclimatisation. If you are not in good shape - then don't try this - just do some regular cardio workouts anyway because this will improve your heat tolerance.

2) Pre-hydrate and re-hydrate. If you spend all day in very hot climates it's possible to lose 7-8 (and more) litres of sweat. It's nearly impossible to drink this much during the day. Make sure you drink a litre of water before going out and sip from a water bottle at night to make up the difference.

3) CCP - Clear, Copius, Pee. You need to drink enough so that you urine is free and clear at least once per day. Dark little squirts of pee mean you are already dehydrated.

4) Lots of fruit veges and salads. A high meat, high processed food based diet uses more water to digest. Eat light and crunchy.

5) Take it easy for a month - it takes this long to aclimatise if you haven't done any of 1).


ps. I learned most of this the hard way in our Aussie summers and I walked 221k's last year in the central Australian desert.
 
Thanks for the replies.
Most of this stuff I already know, but I'm always on the lookout to learn something new. I didn't know about the pre-acclimatisation.
And I have to explain my "troops" (about 25 topographic and hydrographic surveyors + drivers/boatcrew)how to survive the day!
 
Jos said:
As I'm working in the Middle East (Qatar), and it's the hottest period of the year, I need some dehydration prevention tips.

The advice from our safety department is to drink plenty of cool water, avoid coffee, tea, alcohol and soft drinks, and to sit in a cool place regularly.

My question now: what to do if you find yourself without a cool place? For example if your car breaks down in the middle of nowhere?

And if symptoms of dehydration are showing, how can they be stopped and reversed? Rehydration salts? Sport drinks (isostar for example)?

Thanks in advance for your input.
Click to expand...

As already mentioned, but do note that water only will not help over time and you do need some simple electrolyte replacements (Gatoraid, Alacer makes a good mix, etc.) Shade: make sure your crews have some way to make shade, preferably something that is double layered. Clothing that covers the whole body, hat and sunglasses...I know these are pretty much common sense, but I see a lot of contractors up north where they only have short sleeve shirt...direct contact with the sun over here will quickly add to the effects of dehydration.

Acclimation is also important. It's easier in the military to enforce this through physical training, but you need to encourage your "troops" to get in the gym, walk, run, bike as much as possible. Now with that said, the majority of heat-related injuries were Soldiers taking supplements. Really keep an eye on those that take supplements for body building or weight loss. These rob the body of water very rapidly, and many of the Soldiers affected don't even realize the impacts until it's too late.

My boss relayed a story about some troopers on his last deployment that worked outside, patrolling all day...with full load out and IBA, it was a tremendous strain on their body. A couple died even after they returned to an A/C tent/trailer...their inner body temperature was so high their bodies just shut down despite the cool environment. Buddy teams are the key, making sure they are looking after each other...I'm sure they go out in teams, so make that an essential part of their job where they need to evaluate and assess each other and continually encourage hydration, breaks in the shade, cutting back on the cigarette's and coffee.

ROCK6
 
@Rock6: thanks about the info on the bodybuilding supplements. Didn't know that.
 
Just a note regarding electrolytes - you don't really need to add them to your pure water if you are getting them from food. If you are exercising heavily for extended periods, drinking LOTS of pure water without eating much could be problematic (like on a forced march, for example). However, eating a relatively normal diet can provide most or all of your electrolyte needs. Lots of military organizations (Israel, US, etc) have staved off both dehydration and electrolyte deficits with water and food alone.
 
Rock6,

Buddy teams are sure the way to go. Jos, when possible assign buddies (or let them choose their own buddy). Make sure they really take care of each other. Make a schedule, for checks on fluid intakes, and if they went to for a pee. Give them canteens/bottles with water/fluid, and check if they are empty after a while.

CZ
 
when your vehicle break down in the middle of nowhere, set up shelter beside your vehicle and stay there. Do not over-exert yourself. talk less and breath through your nose. drink your water but not all at once but from time to time. some people tried to conserve water and died with a full water bottle... I heard it is possible to hide under your vehicle to escape from the sun. All this is to slow down the rate of water loss to rehydate follow the advice above by the others.
 
asfried2 said:
Just a note regarding electrolytes - you don't really need to add them to your pure water if you are getting them from food. If you are exercising heavily for extended periods, drinking LOTS of pure water without eating much could be problematic (like on a forced march, for example). However, eating a relatively normal diet can provide most or all of your electrolyte needs. Lots of military organizations (Israel, US, etc) have staved off both dehydration and electrolyte deficits with water and food alone.
Click to expand...

That's the philosophy of our safety department also - food + plenty water.
 
Jos, your body functions using electrical signals. Just like a battery, it must have electrolytes to function correctly, and that includes your heart as well as the other muscles. Plain water does not transmit electricity well, and in large quantities it washes the electrolytes out of your body through sweating and urination. Sodium, potassium, and magnesium salts all figure into this, but you probably will want to read more in depth on this subject. Try to arrange for a regular supply of a powdered (dry and concentrated) sports drink. Take care of yourself over there where you're going! If you can, take with you a copy of the US Special Forces Medical Handbook, the best book of its kind I've ever read. Last time I looked it cost about $25US and it's a tough, compact, soft cover field manual available from various sources.
 
Dr. Mudd said:
Jos, your body functions using electrical signals. Just like a battery, it must have electrolytes to function correctly, and that includes your heart as well as the other muscles. Plain water does not transmit electricity well, and in large quantities it washes the electrolytes out of your body through sweating and urination. Sodium, potassium, and magnesium salts all figure into this, but you probably will want to read more in depth on this subject. Try to arrange for a regular supply of a powdered (dry and concentrated) sports drink. Take care of yourself over there where you're going! If you can, take with you a copy of the US Special Forces Medical Handbook, the best book of its kind I've ever read. Last time I looked it cost about $25US and it's a tough, compact, soft cover field manual available from various sources.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice. But I'm not "going over there", I'm here already for more than 1 year. The problem is that lately we are getting a lot of cases of heat related health problems, and I want to avoid that in my department. So any new advice is welcome. Already learned some new things here.:thumbup:
 
As others have mentioned its all about maintaining adequate fluid and food intake.

Things chang a little if you are stranded and cut off from additional sources of water. At that point it's more about minimizing water loss. Ever wonder why Arabs wear so much clothing in a hot environement? Not just to protect the skin from the sun, but also to reduce evaporative water loss.

The body likes to maintain a micro climate of temperature and ambient humidity near the skin surface, wearing loose fitting layers - one to provide shade from the sun, with a second layer to help maintain that micro climate can reduce evaporation. Likewise while a breeze might make you feel cooler in a hot dry climate that cooling comes from the increased rate of evaporation - avoid whenever possible.

You'll still need to thermoregulate as best as possible, but do so in a way that minimizes water loss.
 
As someone that hikes alot in the heat. Also from other people advice. When i know im going out for a long hike i drink two large cups of water. I dont drink them at once but during getting dressed and have a very light snack to eat. I been told and i found it to work great. If you take gatorate powder and mix it 1\3 of what it says on the box with water it would keep you going. To try it out my GF went with me on a very long and hard hike twice longer then i planed on. After about 3\4 of the way back she was running out of strengh to walk and we were running very low on water. We carried close to two gallons for the two of us. I mixed some of the gatorate with the water that was left. She said same thing i felt we have alot more energy about 15 min after compare to plain water. I do it all the time now. If you feel that you are getting hot sit down use the myler blanket to cover your self from the sun. Yes it works better then you might think. Ten min break do more then you might think Drink the water after you rest. Dont drink it when you are just sitting down. Getting used to the heat helps but dont count on that to keep you going.

Sasha
 
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