Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1907-07-13

the Cleveland Plain Dealer. takes a great
MANY forms and is frequently slight and
obscure, but in nine cases out of ten 1t Is
certain in some form or other to appear.
At its mildest it is observed as recur-
ring headache. partial deafness or some
minor but chronic annoying ailment. Al
its worst It Is manifested as paralysis,
epilepsy meningitis. insanity or some seri-
Gus functional disorder OF the heart There-
fore. 1t is plain that a sunstroke. even when
1t does not kill out OF hand. is a very
dangerous thing and that it pays to take
elaborate precautions to avoid IT.
Among laymen sunstroke is often con-
fused with simple heat exhaustion, but. IN
reality they differ very much In tn"
latter the temperature Of the patient fails
below the NORMAL and he is pale In the
former his temperature rises rapidly and
he is flushed.
There are other differences. too. but those
noted will suffice for the first aid amateur.
In the treatment Of heat exhaustion it is
necessary to bring the temperature up in
true sunstroke It Is necessary to force 1t
down. 1t is thus obvious that a mistake In
diagnosis is very apt TO prove fatal.
Sunstroke is one of the Oldest OF recog-
nized diseases, and at least two cases are
great majority OF instances by muscular
activity at high temperature.
A laborer is at work in a ditch shoveling
dirt and with the broiling sun shining down
upon him. when suddenly he throws up his
hands and falls in q heap. fireman is at
work in the stokehold OF a steamship at
temperature of 125 degrees. when suddenly
he drops dead. golfer is chasing a golf
ball across the links. when without n sec
onds warning he goes sprawling and dies
half an hour afterward.
~
Each of these men Is q victim OF heat
stroke, OF which sunstroke is nothing more
than variety. Other names for the NAL
ady are thermic fever. siriasis, insulation.
heat apoplexy and sun fever
In all cases the stroke is caused by the
fact that the victims body has become in
capable Of getting rid of heat az fast as It
is generated or absorbed. Ordinarily 80
per cent of the heat that enters the body Is
radiated by the skin.
But on a very hot ,aay. when the tempera-
ture Of the surrounding air is greater than
that of the body. this radiation almost
ceases. Then. If the bodily temperature
is raised by muscular effort, the extra heat
begins to cause trouble.
The usual result Is dizziness and feel
ing of weakness. and these manifestations
commonly cause muscular effort to be sus-
pended and so the imminent sunstroke is
avoided. But the foolish person who insists
upon shoveling dirt or chasing golf ball
after nature has warned him to seek rest
in the shade does not escape SO easily. In
stead Of slight attack Of dizziness he
suffers a sunStroke, and a rule dies
of it.
1t is thus plain that sunstroke is moth
ing more or less than a hot box in the
human machinery. The body grows too
warm. the delicate mechanism which regu-
lates the distribution Of heat gets out of
order, the vital organs are suddenly dam
aged and the whole machine runs Hmuck
Anything which interferes with the
proper operation of the thermal iywheel
in the medulla oblongata increases the
likelihood of sunstroke. Alcohol IS one such
a thing. The man who swallowed n glass
of whisky four or five times is four or five
times more liable to sunstroke on a hot day
than the man who has stuck to limeade or
iceWater.
Sunstroke is an exceedingly dangerous
malady and its death rate is alarmingly
high. Many victims, indeed. drop dead on
the spot as if shot. Others, after an hour
or so of Inconsistencies, suddenly collapse
and die.
But AS a rule death does not come for
several hours. If during these several
hours proper treatment is provided the
chances of recovery are vastly increased.
The usual symptoms of coming sunstroke
are dzzin IS, pains in the head and feel
ing of oppression. The victim has a sensa-
ton of suffocaton and very often this
forces him to stop work and seek rest in
some cooler place. If he does not do so
nausea commonly follows and after that
ins visibility.
By the time he gets to a hospital his face
is flushed his pulse is rapid and his temper
ature has gone up to 107 or 10S degrees
far beyond the danger line. His breathing
is labored and loud and it is apparent to
any one that he is a very i'll man.
In fatal cases these symptoms grow more
and more pronounced until coma super
venes and the patient dies. In those cases
fated to end in recovery the fever slowly
goes down, the pulse grows slower. the
heavy breathing ceases and consciousness
returns. AS rule the crisis comes in from
twenty -four to th:rty-six hours.
1t is obvious that the first thing to do
in a case Of sunstroke is to reduce the
temperature of the patient. He is literally
roasting alive, and he must be made cooler
at once.
In consequence the hospitals of the big
cities now treat sunstrokc with ice. The
patient is carried to cool place and flooded
with ice water. His head is bathed, his
whole body is spongcd and water is forced
into his mouth.
When hospital is not at hand this
treatment should be begun at once. on the
spot. Carry the patient to a cool place as
quickly as possible and open his clothes.
Then pour cold water over his body and
apply ice or water to his head.
Have no fear of using too much. Let
the water be as cold as possible and let
It be used unsparngly. 1t is impos sIble to
have 1t too cold and impossible to apply
it too quickly or too generously. When
ever feasible the patient should be stripped
to the skin.
Meanwhile see that he does not suffer for
want of fresh air. One of the most alarm
ing symptoms of sunstroke is a sort of
asphyXia or suffocation
Place the patient somewhere where he
mo h. ,,nlr