Be Careful Out There! - Six Fort Worth Officers Collapse in Heat

[TXCharlie]

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/17066272/d...l?dl=mainclick

Extreme Heat Takes Down 6 Fort Worth Officers

• Images: FW Officers Collapse From Heat Exposure

POSTED: 3:34 pm CDT August 1, 2008
UPDATED: 6:27 pm CDT August 1, 2008


FORT WORTH, Texas -- Six Fort Worth police officers are being treated for heat-related conditions after an extremely hot North Texas day where temperatures were exceeded 103 degrees.


Shortly after 2 p.m. Friday, officers arrived at the scene on Interstate 30 where two men had been reportedly attempting to steal wheels from a trailer that was parked on the shoulder near Beach Street.


When officers arrived, they spotted the two men, who fled the scene toward Gateway Park after seeing the officers.



The men then jumped in the Trinity River and swam away from the pursuing officers. So far, the men have not been located, police said.

During the chase, five officers suffered heat-related conditions and had to be treated at the scene for heat exhaustion.


Three of the officers have been treated and released. All of the officers are expected to be OK, including one who was unconscious for part of the afternoon.


At 3 p.m., the temperature at D-FW Airport was 103 degrees with a heat index of 109. While not the hottest day of the year, the heat index made it feel like the hottest day of the year, NBC 5 Meteorologist Steve MacLaughlin said. McLaughlin expected temperatures to continue to rise, possibly to 105, through Friday afternoon.


Fort Worth police said utility gun belts and bullet proof vests worn by officers contributed to the exhaustion.


In an unrelated issue, a crime scene officer drove to Harris Hospital in downtown Fort Worth and reported to the emergency room with symptoms of heat exhaustion.


Officials said that this is the first time in recent history that six officers have gone down because of the heat in the course of one day.

[Ender]

That sucks. Hydrate, hydrate, hydrate. In that kind of heat anybody should be drinking at least a few 16 oz. bottles of water an hour, if not more.

And even that might not be enough, especially with gear. I'd go by the old mantra, "if you're not pissing every hour, you're not drinking enough." --which could seriously suck if you were stuck at a scene somewhere and couldn't take a leak, but...yeah

[CTR man]

Be Careful out there, all. You can die from this.

http://www.odmp.org/officer/18962-bo...eric-n.-cabral

[TXCharlie]

Dehydration is essentially what caused my heart to go into V-tac last year - Dehydrated in 100 degree heat, pushing a lawn mower thru overgrown grass. I remember thinking that I was so thirsty I could drink out of the dog bowl, but I kept going trying to finish the lot.

The dehydration caused my BP to drop, which caused my heart rate to increase dramatically trying to get the pressure back up. Then it reached a point where the efficiency drops dramatically at something over 190 bpm, and started beating even faster to compensate for that - the runaway condition is what the AED's are designed to stop.

I'm pretty much back to normal now, and after my stress test the doctors say I can do everything I did before - Except stuff like mowing the yard dehydrated in 100 degree weather. So I pay a lawn service to do it now. I don't ever want to go near a mower again.

[adroitcuffs]

Don't forget, it's not just the water you need to replace. You need to balance the electrolytes. Drinks like Gatorade help replace the essential salts your body needs. If you only drink plain water, you will risk another condition called hyponatremia.

I work in an area that routinely gets to 115F. I used to work in the desert where 120+ was the norm. Dehydration is definitely not fun!