Recently, a 27-year-old young man was rushed to the emergency room of the Yizhuang Campus of Beijing Tongren Hospital by 120. Cao Qiumei, director of the emergency department of the Yizhuang Campus of Beijing Tongren Hospital, told reporters that the patient was diagnosed with heatstroke when he was sent to the hospital with confusion, limb convulsions, and body temperature above 40°C.
Cao Qiumei said that recently, due to high temperature weather, the number of emergency visits in hospitals has increased, mainly due to some elderly people with underlying diseases, such as diabetes, hypertension, cerebral infarction, long-term bedridden patients, etc., who have poor adaptability to high temperatures and are prone to the onset of underlying diseases caused by high fever, and some are construction workers and takeaway brothers who work outdoors.
What harms does high temperature weather easily bring to people? How to protect the health of outdoor workers? What should I do when I experience heat stroke? The reporter interviewed this.
Classic and exertional heatstroke
According to the forecast of the Central Meteorological Observatory on July 19, our country's high temperature will show a strong development trend in the next 10 days, reaching more than 40 °C locally. High temperature weather can easily cause fatigue, upset, lack of thought, reduced work efficiency, and serious cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, heat stroke, and even death.
Gong Xiaojie, attending physician of the emergency department of Beijing Tsinghua Chang Gung Hospital affiliated to Tsinghua University, said in an interview with the "Workers' Daily" reporter that heat stroke is often manifested as dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, fever, chest tightness, fast heart rate, low blood pressure, convulsions, and even coma, etc., and patients often go to emergency departments, cardiology, respiratory medicine, gastroenterology, neurology and other departments.
Fang Xiaolei, chief physician of the Emergency Department of Oriental Hospital of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, said that heat stroke refers to the long-term action of high temperature and heat radiation, the body's body temperature regulation disorders, water and electrolyte metabolism disorders, and nervous system function damage and other symptoms. Heat stroke is the most serious type of heat-induced illness with a high case fatality rate.
According to the cause of the disease and the different susceptible people, heatstroke is divided into classic heatstroke and exertion-type heatstroke. Classic heatstroke is mainly caused by the imbalance of heat production and heat dissipation caused by passive exposure to the thermal environment, usually without strenuous physical activity, and individuals with impaired thermoregulation function are more likely to develop the disease, such as infants, the elderly, patients with chronic underlying diseases or impaired immune function, long-term bedridden and obese individuals. Labor-type heatstroke is mainly caused by high-intensity physical activity, which causes an imbalance between heat production and heat dissipation, and is common in healthy young people who exercise vigorously in summer, such as officers and soldiers, athletes, firefighters, construction workers, etc. who participate in training in summer. Although exertion-type heatstroke is more likely to occur in high temperature and humidity environments, environmental conditions are not necessary.
Work for 1~2 hours to rest and hydrate properly
In hot weather, how should workers exposed to the outdoors do a good job of health protection? Cao Qiumei said that if outdoor work is unavoidable, protective measures need to be taken, first of all, the supply of soft drinks, and secondly, it is necessary to arrange time reasonably and reserve enough rest time. "For high-intensity, long-term outdoor exposure, it may be more reasonable to adopt a rotation system, and the working hours should be reasonably set to avoid heat stroke as much as possible. In addition, if you predict the possibility of heat stroke, you should prepare for medicine and first aid. Cao Qiumei said. If you have just started working, the working time and intensity should be gradually adjusted from less to more, from light to heavy, so that the body can adapt to the high temperature environment, which generally takes 1~2 weeks. Gong Xiaojie said that people who need to work outdoors in summer should pay special attention not to work for a long time in a high temperature environment, appropriately arrange the workload, combine work and rest, reduce the workload at noon and afternoon, and work for 1~2 hours to rest and hydrate properly.
In addition to providing material security and reasonable arrangement of working hours and workload, outdoor workers should also strengthen heatstroke prevention and cooling publicity, so that workers can pay attention to the hazards of high temperature damage and avoid the heat correctly.
For the methods of preventing heatstroke, Gong Xiaojie suggested, first, enough sleep to ensure rest can enhance the body's immunity and reduce illness; The second is to avoid drinking alcohol and alcoholic beverages, which will dull the body's response to the outside world, affect the perception of the adverse environment, and delay the detection time of the disease; The third is proper hydration, water and electrolytes are very important to maintain the stability of the body's internal environment, and dehydration will aggravate heat stroke, you can drink more mung bean soup, eat watermelon and other fruits with sufficient water. For medication suggestions, it is necessary to analyze specific problems and choose according to their own conditions.
Doctors recommend carrying heat-clearing and heat-relieving items with you
Prevention is the key to reducing the mortality rate of heatstroke. Cao Qiumei emphasized that when working or studying in a high temperature and humidity environment, we must ensure that we have enough rest in a cool and ventilated environment and replenish water in time. Traditional Chinese medicine also plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of heat stroke, and the common chrysanthemums, honeysuckle, lotus leaves, mint, herbs and patchouli all have the effect of clearing heat and relieving heatstroke, which can not only prevent the occurrence of severe heat stroke to a certain extent, but also play a good therapeutic effect in the first time of onset. Cao Qiumei said that you can carry wind oil essence with you, and when there are slight symptoms of heat stroke, you can wipe the philtrum and temples to make the subjective feeling cooler. If dizziness and nausea occur in a high temperature and high fever environment, and it is not relieved after rest, you should go to the hospital as soon as possible and let the doctor treat the symptoms in time.
Gong Xiaojie emphasized that in hot weather, you should try to stay in a cool environment, and do not be afraid to use cooling equipment such as air conditioners. If you go out, avoid high temperature periods, try to go out early and late, do a good job of sun protection when you go out, wear light-colored and breathable clothing, and try to shorten the stay time in high temperature environments. In addition, some high-risk groups should be paid attention to, such as the elderly, infants and young children, people suffering from cardiovascular diseases and mental diseases, if there are acute diseases such as fever and diarrhea, they should seek medical attention in time to avoid delaying the disease.