What about emergency response to heat-related diseases such as dizziness and nausea?
Jul 11, 2025
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Our body always keeps our body temperature constant. This is because there is a thermoregulatory center that controls body temperature regardless of external temperature. If you are exposed to hot sunlight for a long time beyond your thermoregulatory center's ability or stay in an excessively hot place for a long time, the thermoregulatory center loses its ability and rises abnormally in our body. Such a case is called heat stroke.
Four to eight hours after exposure to strong sunlight, the skin becomes red and painful due to sunburn, and in severe cases, blisters may occur. Symptoms just before heatstroke appear include headache, dizziness, nausea, convulsions, and vision impairment, and the body appears hot, dry and red. Although it shows symptoms similar to heat fatigue, it is characterized by not sweating because the skin is hot and dry. Breathing is shallow and slow, and blood pressure may drop.
Until you come to the hospital, the patient's body temperature should be lowered, and if you are unconscious, you should move to the hospital quickly while maintaining your airway and providing breathing assistance. It is most effective to cause evaporation to lower the patient's body temperature.
It is recommended to take off your clothes and use a fan to get a cool breeze, spray water on your skin with a sprayer, and put an ice pack on the area where large blood vessels pass, neck, and armpit to lower the heat.
It is recommended to avoid excessive sun exposure, especially on a clear summer day without clouds, avoid strong sunlight from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. If outside activities are required, checking the weather information of the Korea Meteorological Administration every day can be a good precaution.
Lim Ji-yong, a professor of emergency medicine at the Catholic University of Korea's Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, said "Heat diseases require a quick drop in body temperature because the brain's thermoregulatory center loses its function due to a high fever, and if the disease progresses further, the body's blood coagulation system can malfunction, resulting in bleeding in various areas. Patients with underlying diseases such as high blood pressure and diabetes or elderly people are required to pay more attention."
Professor Lim continued, `If you fall down due to heatstroke or sunstroke, you may have a secondary accident that hits the floor or hard object and injures the brain or neck, so rather than moving the patient by force, you should be able to carefully move with the help of paramedics or medical staff along with wearing a protective band. In addition, if the patient is unconscious, it is an emergency and should be transferred to the emergency room immediately," he stressed.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
