Heat Illness - Recent Developments

Booker, R J; Bricknell, Martin

doi:10.1136/jramc-148-01-03

Cited by 7 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 46 publications

(96 reference statements)

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“…During the same period, the ratio of hospitalised to non-hospitalised (ambulatory) cases was approximately 7:3 for army heat illness reported in the UK 56 Following a review of preventive practices and changes in Defence policy, the incidence of heat illness was thought to have fallen7 8 and the Surgeon General's Heat Illness Working Group (SG's HIWG) was established to regularly review and update the guidance in JSP 539, using subject matter experts drawn from across the UK military.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case ascertainment of heat illness in the British Army: evidence of under-reporting from analysis of Medical and Command notifications, 2009–2013

et al. 2015

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BackgroundHeat illness in the Armed Forces is considered preventable. The UK military relies upon dual Command and Medical reporting for case ascertainment, investigation of serious incidents and improvement of preventive practices and policy. This process could be vulnerable to under-reporting.ObjectivesTo establish whether heat illness in the British Army has been under-reported, by reviewing concordance of reporting to the Army Incident Notification Cell (AINC) and the Army Health Unit (AHU) and to characterise the burden of heat illness reported by these means.MethodsAnalysis of anonymised reporting databases held by the AHU and AINC, for the period 2009–2013.Results565 unique cases of heat illness were identified. Annual concordance of reporting ranged from 9.6% to 16.5%. The overall rate was 13.3%. July was the month with the greatest number of heat illness reports (24.4% of total reporting) and the highest concordance rate (30%). Reports of heat illness from the UK (n=343) exceeded overseas notifications (n=221) and showed better concordance (17.1% vs 12.8%). The annual rate of reported heat illness varied widely, being greater in full-time than reservist personnel (87 vs 23 per100 000) and highest in full-time untrained personnel (223 per100 000).ConclusionsThe risk of heat illness was global, year-round and showed dynamic local variation. Failure to dual-report casualties impaired case ascertainment of heat illness across Command and Medical chains. Current preventive guidance, as applied in training and on operations, should be critically evaluated to ensure that risk of heat illness is reduced as low as possible. Clear procedures for casualty notification and surveillance are required in support of this and should incorporate communication within and between the two reporting chains.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Case ascertainment of heat illness in the British Army: evidence of under-reporting from analysis of Medical and Command notifications, 2009–2013

et al. 2015

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“…Weiner and Horne recognized and documented 14 types of heat disorders [26], only six of which were noticed in the Indian Armed Forces [14]. These can be grouped into four clinical categories on the basis of severity and symptoms: heat syncope, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heatstroke [27].…”

Section: Hri: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…It causes a person to faint due to cerebral hypoxia caused by dilation of peripheral blood vessels. Vasodilation can result in orthostatic intolerance [21,27,28]. The other symptoms are headache, giddiness, thirst, vomiting, and fatigue [14].…”

Section: Hri: An Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Heat: not black, not white. It’s gray!!!

Singh

Kapoor

Singh

2013

Journal of Basic and Clinical Physiology and Pharmacology

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Heat-related illness (HRI) is a broad term that includes clinical conditions ranging from heat cramps and syncope to heat exhaustion and heatstroke, which may result in death. HRIs are one of the major causes of death worldwide and continue to increase in severity with the rise in global temperature. The identification and estimation of heat-related morbidity and mortality is a major challenge. Heat stress manifests itself into respiratory, cardiovascular, and cerebrovascular disorders, leading to the attribution of the deaths caused by heat stress to these disorders. Although HRIs affect mankind in general, certain occupational workers such as soldiers and athletes are more prone. Various pharmacological and nonpharmacological strategies have been employed to combat HRIs. Despite this, heat exposure results in significant morbidity and mortality. Hence, complete understanding of HRIs at physiological as well as molecular level is required to facilitate design of more efficient preventive and treatment strategies. The impact of heat on mankind is not just restricted to HRIs. Heat treatment, i.e., thermotherapy, has been used extensively since ancient times for relieving pain, making heat a two-edged sword. This review attempts to summarize various HRIs, their physiological and molecular basis, and the state-of-the-art techniques/research initiatives to combat the same. It also illustrates the application of thermotherapy as a means for improving quality of life and morbidity associated with several disease conditions such as fibromyalgia syndrome, heart diseases, cancer, chronic pain, and depression.

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