I remember waking up in the hospital and I didn’t understand what happened.
The doctor told me I was lucky Claire called 000 when she did because I almost had heat stroke.
Seriously? I spent 40+ years working in the mines on days hotter than this!
The doctor explained that our bodies can’t get too hot or too cold. Lots of sweating can cause dehydration. If we’re not maintaining our fluid intake, we can get heat exhaustion. If we can’t cool down, we can get heat stroke.
Heat can worsen other medical conditions which can put you in the hospital before you even get heat stroke.
Turns out heatwaves are Australia’s most deadly natural disaster. I didn’t know that.
As we age, its harder for our body to cool and harder to feel higher temperatures. We might not realise we’re at risk until it is too late.
During heat stress, our body needs to send blood to our skin to cool down as the sweat evaporates. But as we age, we produce less sweat and have less automatic control of our blood vessels expanding, reducing blood to flow to the skin.
Our heart also can't pump as much blood with each heartbeat. The body has to prioritise maintaining blood pressure and supplying blood to vital organs instead of sending blood to the skin to cool. When internal temperatures reach over 40C, this is 'heat stroke'.
I had no idea. But since then I’ve learned a lot about my health and how serious heat can be. Now, I’m prepared for the heat.”
For more information, visit www.climate-ethos.com