It’s Summer time and between the cost of electric energy and the possibility that there may be brownouts from lack of supply I’m getting worried about the hot weather to come. In a worse case situation, how do I prevent heat stroke and I also worry because I have neighbors who don’t have air conditioning. What can I do?

This is a big problem for everyone and especially older and medically complicated individuals. As a Certified Athletic Trainer, Coach has been on this issue that has been a serious concern for decades. Even though Coach doesn’t want to confess this, Coach remembers the sixties when sports coaches thought that taking water during workouts and contests weighed the athlete down and negatively affected performance. They thought a few salt pills would solve the problem.

Now a days we know this was not a good idea. Gatorade is a product of this evolution. Athletic medicine showed that proper hydration was a key to enhanced performance. Electrolytes had to be replaced during workouts and competition. As the running craze built up in the 70s people started dieing during the races and during training. A light bulb went off and the world evolved where there were now water stations every mile of a road race. Water breaks were scheduled during athletic practices and bottled water made its debut. Suddenly everyone was walking around with a water bottle, the biggest plastic environmental polluter ever devised. Promoters of performance enhancers were supplementing all kinds of stuff in the water from vitamins to caffeine. Most were a waste of money.

Like with most things, some people think that even if you have the right dose of whatever, more must be better. So of course the pendulum swung and now people were dieing from too much water. Too much causes a dilution of bodily electrolytes and the electric impulses that make your heart beat are interrupted. This is not good. People were now dropping dead from over-hydration. Another example of this is with team or fraternity hazing. The hazed would be encouraged to drink a five gallon water bottle and guess what happened. Dead college students. It wasn’t just youngsters killing themselves. A 30+ year old mother took a challenge from a radio station promotion in Sacramento, CA to see who could drink the moat water without having to pee. Guess what happened? DOA.

So back to the power outages that may happen. Being an old Boy Scout, Coach wants you to be prepared. For a few hundred dollars you can buy a small gas generator that will keep your refrigerator operating so you have a source of ice and cool drinks. A big expensive generator can keep your whole house operating and this would be the best but costliest solution.

If that is not possible and/or in addition to that, the simple solution is to fill your bathtub with cool water and submerge yourself for a few minutes a few times per day when you are feeling overheated. Almost everyone has a bath tub but if you don’t have a tub just soak yourself in a shower or outside with a garden hose then sit in the shade while you air dry and cool off. So make sure you stay hydrated and cooled off with water.

Heat stroke can be fatal. Don’t ignore the signs of overheating and take action to prevent the problem from becoming life threatening.