Prevention of heat-related illness

Strategies to prevent or pre-empt heat-related illness include:

• screening for predisposing factors including previous heat-related illness
• discussing heat acclimatisation—1 to 2 hours of exertion daily in a hot environment can increase capacity to regulate temperature (eg by increased sweating); this takes from 8 to 14 days
• assessing environmental conditions using guides such as the wet bulb globe index; this takes account of humidity, as well as radiant and reflected heat; it is used to determine appropriate activity levels in industrial, military and sporting settings¹
• regular health monitoring for people working in hot climates
• a ‘drink to satisfy thirst’ approach to hydration in exercise
• appropriate clothing, or strict work-rest cycles if compulsory protective clothing is needed (eg for firefighters, military personnel).

Patient information factsheets are available from:

• the New South Wales Health website—this includes advice on maintaining hydration, including a urine colour chart to help patients recognise concentrated urine
• the Healthdirect website
• Sports Medicine Australia’s Extreme Heat Policy—this includes colour-coded graphs indicating the safety of undertaking particular activities under certain environmental conditions
• SafeWorkAustralia—includes checklists for managing heat in the workplace.