HEAT EXHAUSTION

I assumed that by now my kids knew me to be a fairly irresponsible & reckless version of a real mother.

I generally prioritise fun over most things and this isn’t always wise.. apparently.🙄

Unfortunately for our delightful young German exchange student she was unaware of this little idiosyncrasy of mine.

(She’s well aware now, as it goes…)

One day on these last holidays I thought it’d be brilliant fun for them all to float down the Ovens River from Bright to Porepunkah on tyre tubes.

And so as the mercury soared towards 40 degrees the trusting little lovelies set off.

“It’ll only take a couple of hours” I called out. “Catch you at Porepunkah!”

No water, no sunscreen, no phone.

(Starting to feel the reckless vibe???)

Yep…….

I won’t bore you with the incidentals but all I can say is thank God for French tourists (who are very good at sharing their phones apparently) and thank God my little German didn’t end up with heat stroke. (Oh and my kids too I suppose but they hadn’t just come from conditions of -10 degrees.)

Which gets me to my point...

Heat Exhaustion.

It hit 45 degrees in Bright that day and I watched perplexed (while I was driving around furiously trying to find my little people) as cyclists came in one after the other, red faced and expressionless from where ever it was they’d been.

Heat Exhaustion is a very real thing. And whilst it’s not life threatening, it can progress to Heat Stroke which is a different matter altogether.

Heat Exhaustion is caused by exposure to extreme heat and intensifies with lack of adequate water and physical exertion.

It is thought that between 500ml and 1 litre of water is required every hour under such conditions.

Exposure to full sun, humidity, reduced fitness and age (either over 65 or small children) can all exacerbate your vulnerability to heat.

Symptoms to watch for are:

Weakness/fatigue
Dizzyness
Headache
Excessive sweating
Muscle cramping
Nausea/vomiting
Mild confusion
Lack of co-ordination

So, in the heat of summer…plan a little if you absolutely need to ride or indeed exert yourself in any way.

(This is sensible Kate talking.)

Take off early in the morning, wear lightweight, loose fitting clothing, sunscreen up, listen to your body and drink lots of water.

Dehydration has already set in by the time your body feels thirsty!

As heat exhaustion progresses untreated it can lead to heat stroke which can result in permanent brain damage or even worse, death.

Don’t be reckless and irresponsible. It’s not cool.😡

(I found the kids, by the way… some 4 hours later and they hadn’t even reached the halfway point.

Apparently it can take 6 hours to make that journey when the river isn’t flowing fast.

My beautiful little German was sunburnt, with cut feet and bruises and wasn’t very responsive. I spent the next hour dressing wounds, working hard to re-hydrate her with electrolytes and water and kept her inside with the air conditioner for another couple of hours until she chilled sufficiently. Then she went back to the river.)

See?

I can be responsible...

Kate x