With July well under way, it can only mean one thing for most of the country — heat. It’s well known that heart attacks and other “stress” related factors can cause injuries and even deaths among responders. When you add soaring temperatures to the levels of stress we routinely see in emergency response, it creates a potential problem for some if not all personnel.
Unfortunately no one can control the heat, neither can we just stop calls from coming in that make us respond in the heat. However, there are some simple, sensible ways that can help to prevent summertime emergency response situations being made worse by the actions or inactions of responders themselves.
The first rule during heat is to take it easy. Admittedly that is easier said than done for the emergency responder. If the roof needs venting or the 340 lbs patient needs to be carried off the second floor, then these things must be done regardless of the weather. However, how we actually do them may be able to change. For one thing, officers need to consider the need for mutual aid with the motto of “call early and call often.” Further, chief officers might even consider adding automatic aid mutual aid on some types of calls if the heat is severe.
The second major rule for operating in the heat is to “know thy self;" that is recognize your own limitations. Some things that you do easily on a nice crisp spring or brisk fall day may zap you in the dead of summer with three digit temperatures and high humidity. Ask for help if you need it, think of it as “self requested mutual aid.”
Now the third rule is hydrate, hydrate and then hydrate some more. Hydration is best achieved with good old fashioned water. Cool water is actually better than cold and one must avoid things with high sugar content, especially alcohol which actually dehydrates you even if you may not notice at first. Once at a class at the National Fire Academy while discussing responder safety, a fellow classmate said, “We do rehab, maybe we need prehab.” In this case he was referring to drinking water long before your shift starts. It made me think of my crews back home in New Jersey in August, and I wrote a memo that night reminding them of the need for water, water and more water in their daily routine!
So this brings us to the topic of rehab itself. A wise old chief once told me, “Son, don’t be cold and don’t be wet — and for God’s sake don’t do both at once.” Another old salt chimed in and said, “And that’s for the summer, too.” I didn’t get it till much later in my career when I was cold then wet then sweating all in one hour at a summer fire. If your area has formal rehab capability, call for it as soon as you realize you may need it. If your area doesn’t have formal rehab, make sure you carry something to set up some shelter and have the ability to get water and things like that to your scene.
If you’re unable to operate at the highest levels of performance while at an emergency scene you are not able to serve your customers needs and could even be a risk to them and your fellow responders. No one became a firefighter or an EMT to do that, so why risk it? Pay attention to your body and its need for rest and rehydration, use mutual aid and ask for help when you need it. Stay a part of the solution, not be part of the problem.