Transcript Warm Weather Injuries - University of Tehran

Warm Weather Injuries
Sunny Weather Blues
Warm Weather Injuries
• Warm weather
sometimes provides
pleasant working
conditions. You must
be aware of the
hazards that await.
Heat Stress
• Operations involving high temperatures, radiant
heat sources, high humidity, and/or strenuous
physical activities have a high potential for
inducing heat stress in employees.
• Outdoor operations conducted in hot weather, such
as construction, and hazardous waste site
activities, especially those that require workers to
wear semipermeable or impermeable protective
clothing, are also likely to cause heat stress among
exposed workers.
HEAT FATIGUE
• A factor that predisposes an individual to heat
fatigue is lack of acclimatization. The use of a
program of acclimatization and training for work
in hot environments is advisable. The signs and
symptoms of heat fatigue include impaired
performance of skilled sensorimotor, mental, or
vigilance jobs. There is no treatment for heat
fatigue except to remove the heat stress before a
more serious heat-related condition develops.
Heat Cramps
• Usually caused by performing hard physical labor in a hot
environment. These cramps have been attributed to an electrolyte
imbalance caused by sweating. Cramps can be caused by both too
much and too little salt. Cramps appear to be caused by the lack of
water replenishment. Because sweat is a hypotonic solution (±0.3%
NaCl), excess salt can build up in the body if the water lost through
sweating is not replaced. Thirst cannot be relied on as a guide to the
need for water; instead, water must be taken every 15 to 20 minutes
in hot environments.
• Under extreme conditions, such as working for 6 to 8 hours in
heavy protective gear, a loss of sodium may occur. Recent studies
have shown that drinking commercially available carbohydrateelectrolyte replacement liquids is effective in minimizing
physiological disturbances during recovery.
HEAT EXHAUSTION
• The signs and symptoms of heat exhaustion are headache,
nausea, vertigo, weakness, thirst, and giddiness. Fortunately, this
condition responds readily to prompt treatment. Heat exhaustion
should not be dismissed lightly for several reasons. One is that
the fainting associated with heat exhaustion can be dangerous
because the victim may be operating machinery or controlling an
operation that should not be left unattended; or the victim may be
injured when he or she faints. Also, the signs and symptoms seen
in heat exhaustion are similar to those of heat stroke, a medical
emergency.
• Workers suffering from heat exhaustion should be removed from
the hot environment and given fluid replacement. They should
also be encouraged to get adequate rest.
HEAT STROKE
• Occurs when the body's system of temperature regulation fails
and body temperature rises to critical levels. This condition is
caused by a combination of highly variable factors, and its
occurrence is difficult to predict. Heat stroke is a medical
emergency. The primary signs and symptoms of heat stroke are
confusion; irrational behavior; loss of consciousness;
convulsions; a lack of sweating (usually); hot, dry skin; and an
abnormally high body temperature, e.g., a rectal temperature of
41°C (105.8°F). If body temperature is too high, it causes death.
The elevated metabolic temperatures caused by a combination of
work load and environmental heat load, both of which contribute
to heat stroke, are also highly variable and difficult to predict.
Dehydration
• One of the main causes of dehydration is
overexposure to the Sun.
• Dehydration is one of the most common heat
diseases. At times dehydration might be dismissed as
a minor "irritation", but it is something that warrants
timely treatment.
• Dehydration can be defined as "Loss of water content
and essential body salts (electrolytes) needed for
normal body functioning.”
Dehydration
• There are basically 3 types of dehydration. Mild
dehydration, which is said to set in when there is a
fluid loss of 5% from the body. At this point in time,
dehydration is not very dangerous and can be easily
cured with re-hydration.
• Moderate dehydration is said to set in when there is
up to a 10% loss of body fluid. This type is of great
concern and immediate steps should be taken for rehydration.
• When about 15% of a persons body fluid is lost a
person is considered severely dehydrated. This
should be treated as a medical emergency and might
even require hospitalization to bring about a normal
electrolyte balance.
Symptoms of Dehydration
To enable quick and easy diagnosis, proper knowledge of some of the
more common symptoms of dehydration is necessary.
A person suffering from dehydration will display the following
symptoms:
1. A dry mouth with sticky mucus membrane in the mouth.
2. Decreased urine output.
3. Sunken eyes
4. Wrinkled skin which may lack its normal elasticity and sag back
into position slowly when pinched into a fold.
Symptoms of Dehydration
5. Fatigue
6. Dizziness, confusion, and coma
7. Low blood pressure
8. Severe thirst
9. Increased heart-rate and breathing
If you experience any of the above symptoms, or observe
them in a friend then you need to get immediate medical
attention
Prevent Dehydration
Dehydration can strike anyone at any time. However by taking
some basic precautionary measures, the harmful effects of
dehydration can be avoided.
1. Always drink plenty of fluids especially when going out to
work in the Sun.
2. Keep a careful check on intake and outflow of fluids. The
human body should never lose more fluids than it is taking in.
3. Try to schedule all physical outdoor activities for cooler parts
of the day.
4. For re-hydration a simple solution with a little salt will do
wonders. Common athletic drinks like Gatorade® are useful in
maintaining electrolyte balance.
Prevent Dehydration
5. Weigh yourself daily if
you use diuretics. Report
to your doctor if you lose
more then 3 pounds daily
or 5 pounds in a week.
Sun Exposure
• Sunshine, essential for life, strikes the earth in rays of
varying wavelengths. Long rays (infrared) are unseen but
felt as heat. Intermediate length rays are visible as light.
Shorter rays (ultraviolet) are also invisible and are further
divided into the following groups:
• Ultraviolet (UVA) rays are beneficial in low doses, but
may increase the chance of cancer in high doses.
UVBs are primarily responsible for sunburn and cancer
UVCs are the shortest and most dangerous
UV rays contain enough energy to damage DNA in living
skin and eye cells. DNA controls the ability of cells to heal
and reproduce. The ozone layer allows life to flourish by
passing the longer, beneficial wavelengths and effectively
blocking almost all UVC, some UVB and a little UVA.
No Tan Is A Good Tan
• A panel of dermatologists, convened by the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1990, concluded: "All tanning
is visible evidence of toxic injury."
• Sunburn that continues to worsen several days after exposure
may be a sun allergy. Sun allergies sometimes show up as
severe sunburns and, less often, as a poison-ivy-like rash.
• Overexposure to sunlight causes premature aging of the skin,
preparing the skin for later episodes of skin cancer.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation: "The sun is the
cause of at least 90 percent of skin cancers."
Protect Yourself
• Take the following precautions when working outdoors:
 Wear protective clothing that does not transmit visible light.
 Frequently apply sunscreen with a Sun Protection Factor of
15 or higher. Be sure the sunscreen guards against UVB and
UVA radiation.
 Wear sunglasses that block UV rays.
 Seek shade, if possible, when the sun's intensity is at its
peak-between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
 Be aware of the signs and symptoms of skin cancers and see
a health-care clinician if an unusual skin change occurs.
Melanoma
• Skin cancer can be thought of as an outdoor
leisure/exercise/work syndrome, the result of periods of
intense overexposure to ultraviolet light even if the ozone
was not depleted. An estimated 32,000 U.S. citizens will
be told they have melanoma this year, and between 7,000
and 9,000 will die when the cancer metastasizes (spreads)
to vital organs. That's a 300-percent rise in the last decade.
• If caught early, malignant melanoma is virtually 100percent curable. Physicians recommend a monthly skin
check for the symptomatic ABCD's of skin cancer.
Melanoma
Squamas Cell
Basal Cell
ABCD
• A for Asymmetry : This is when one half of a mole or skin spot
doesn't match the other half.
• B for Border Irregularity : A mole or skin spot with ragged,
notched or blurred edges.
• C for Color : Any spot or mole that changes in color from black
to brown to red, often with a combination of colors. Blue and
white may appear.
• D for Diameter : Any mole or spot that grows to more than a
quarter inch; about the size of the end of a pencil eraser.
• About one-half of all melanomas arise from an existing mole, but
they can also appear as a completely new spot on the skin.
Consult your physician if any mole or spot appears suddenly,
looks scaly, becomes itchy, painful or tender, or starts to ooze
blood.
Poison Plants
Poison Ivy
• Varying from low bushes to moderately-sized trees, it can also be
a climbing vine. The ornamental foliage assume beautiful tints in
autumn, some of the varieties also bearing showy fruits. It grows
in thickets and low grounds in North America, where it is quite
common.
• The root is reddish and branching; the leaves rather large, threeparted. The central leaflet has a longer stalk, the lateral ones are
almost stalkless. The leaflets are entire when young, but when
full-grown they are variously indented, downy beneath, thin and
about 4 inches long.
Summer Poison Ivy
• When dry, the leaves are
papery and brittle, sometimes
with black spots of exuded
juice turned black on drying.
The flowers are in loose,
slender clusters or panicles, in
the axils of the leaves and are
small, some perfect, others
unisexual, and are greenish or
yellowish-white in colour. They
blossom in June, and are
followed by clusters of small,
globular, duncoloured, berrylike fruit.
If Exposed to Poison Ivy
• You get the rash from touching
the plant, or touching
something that has touched it,
like your clothes or your dog.
• The oil in the plant, called
urushiol causes the rash.
• What if you know you've been
exposed to it?
If Exposed
• Within a hour or so you should rinse
with lots of cold water - like a garden
hose. Hot water will open your pores
and let the oil in. Taking shower
could be a disaster!
• Follow the cold water rinse with a
cleansing of exposed skin with
generous amounts of isopropyl
(rubbing) alcohol. For up to about 6
hours washing with alcohol may still
help remove the oil.
• Alcohol removes your skin's
protection along with the urushiol
and any new contact will cause the
urushiol to penetrate twice as fast.
Poison Ivy