The heat danger is real!

[iheartdisney]

Had a huge scare today!
We were only in the park not even an hour when DD7 became severely effected by the heat.
We got to DHS around 1, grabbed FP for RnR and went on the Great Movie Ride- which was indoor and air conditioned- walked to Star Tours and were only in line approx 15 minutes when she started crying that her stomach hurt and another 5 minutes and she looked like she was about to pass out. So i picked her up and walked as fast as I could to the First Aid station- after 30 minutes of laying down her temp was still about 101. After an hour I felt OK leaving, but the nurses gave us the advice to rent her a stroller or wheelchair, which we did.She took it pretty easy for the rest of the evening.
We are from a pretty temperate climate, and I thought I was doing a good job making sure the kids were drinking water and getting plenty of rest. Just wanted to remind everyone that the heat down here is serious, and i was amazed by how quickly it became scary!

 

[DCbride]

Great reminder. Glad she is feeling better.

 

[Sammie]

Not only the heat but the humidity, hydrate, with water, Smart water is even better and Disney does sell it.

Take a wash cloth with you and wet it down with cool water and wash faces and necks.

 

[Arnir]

I hope your daughter recovers speedily.

Hydration is critical and not always just water as mentioned above. Hats with lots of room for air circulation can help a lot as well.

 

[GrandAdmiralStrife]

old saying "it's not the heat, it's the humidity" applies here. You may think you're hydrated but it's so damned humid that you'll sweat it all away very quickly. By the time you realize you're thirsty it's too late.

I plan on giving my son plenty of water (DW wants to have him drink pedialite as well) when we take him.

 

[>Ash<]

hydration is always a must in that heat, the humidity saps you worse though.

after a good few hours in the sun i always try and grab a powerade of gatorade for some sugars and keep drinking clear water.

thinks like coke and pepsi, fanta will dehydrate you, try and grab clear water all the time in the heat.

i aways carry my bottle with me and refill it at every station, yeah the water isnt nice from the fountains but its better than seeing a nurse lol

your gonna think im crzy but a nice salty pretzel with water is always good, the salt will keep the water retention, make sure you drink plenty with it and you will feel better as the salt stops you loosing water as quickly.

 

[flortlebap]

Thanks for posting and I hope your DD recovers soon. It's scary how quickly the heat can affect you sometimes.

 

[momofboyz3]

Just want to add as well, I am so glad your dd is okay & recovered as well as your family enjoying the rest of your DHS stay

 

[figment80]

Hope you dd is feeling better and doesn't have anymore problems the rest of your stay. I know exactly how she feels I had the same thing happen to me when I was 8 at Sea World, unfortuntely(sp) I did get sick. Like someone else said use the washcloth to wash her face and neck down on a regular basis. Also buying one of the squeeze breeze fans will help to keep her cool also especially when standing in line for a ride and there is no breeze. When we went last month we took a long the squeeze breeze fan that I bought when I was there in 2005.

 

[Carbonfiber07]

When the humidity is high, your body's sweat cannot evaporate to cool you off because the air is already saturated with water. Taken from the MIT engineering page:

"Normally, the body cools itself by opening pores on the skin and releasing water and salts. As the water evaporates, it transfers the body’s heat to the air. Because water has a high latent heat, which is the heat required to change liquid water to vapor, this process usually carries away enough heat to do a good job of cooling the body.”It’s a fabulous system,” says Christie.

But the rate at which water—or in this case, sweat—evaporates depends on how much water is already in the air. On dry days, sweat evaporates quickly, which means it also carries away heat faster. On humid days, when the air is already saturated with water, sweat evaporates more slowly.

This explains why it feels so much hotter in high humidity. When relative humidity reaches a high enough level, the body’s natural cooling system simply can’t work. Sweat evaporates very slowly, if at all, and the body heats up. In extreme cases, people begin to suffer from heat cramps or heat stroke, which is basically organ failure as the body begins to cook itself."


Ugh.

 

[tjmj9801]

Scary. Glad she's ok.

 

[kayemgi]

When the humidity is high, your body's sweat cannot evaporate to cool you off because the air is already saturated with water. Taken from the MIT engineering page:

"Normally, the body cools itself by opening pores on the skin and releasing water and salts. As the water evaporates, it transfers the body’s heat to the air. Because water has a high latent heat, which is the heat required to change liquid water to vapor, this process usually carries away enough heat to do a good job of cooling the body.”It’s a fabulous system,” says Christie.

But the rate at which water—or in this case, sweat—evaporates depends on how much water is already in the air. On dry days, sweat evaporates quickly, which means it also carries away heat faster. On humid days, when the air is already saturated with water, sweat evaporates more slowly.

This explains why it feels so much hotter in high humidity. When relative humidity reaches a high enough level, the body’s natural cooling system simply can’t work. Sweat evaporates very slowly, if at all, and the body heats up. In extreme cases, people begin to suffer from heat cramps or heat stroke, which is basically organ failure as the body begins to cook itself."


Ugh.

Wow. I mean I guess I knew that from anatomy class back in the day, but it is really scary to read!

OP I'm glad your DD is ok, and thanks for the reminder to the rest of us! I live in a high humidity area (not quite as high as Florida or DC, which are basically swamps!) but it's still easy to forget how important hydration is on an especially hot day.

 

[TxRabbit]

We just moved from Houston, where we lived for years. DH worked for NASA and there was a horrible tragedy that their newsletter reported on regarding the death of child related to heat/humidity.

I just want to pass along...it's more than simple hydration...it's the loss of electrolytes that is so dangerous. There was a recommendation to drink Smart Water from a PP. This is excellent advise. That and or any of the sport hydration drinks (there are also packets available to mix into bottled water) are essential for battling serious heat/humidity.

I'm glad the OPs daughter recovered.

 

[Pooh2]

Glad your little one is okay now! Hope you can enjoy the remainder of your trip!

 

[figmentswife]

So sorry, it's scary when this happens. It happened to my DD last April. Disney was great and extremely helpful. We spent about an hour and half in first aid after she went down.

Everyone should be drinking one bottle for every hour you are in the park, alternate between water and powerade.

Went again last month and followed this rule and did well, also frogg toggs were helpful, but if you don't have a car to go get some you could stop in a restroom every once in a while and wet paper towels and put them on the back of your neck, and child's to cool you down.

 

[stargazertechie]

I just want to pass along...it's more than simple hydration...it's the loss of electrolytes that is so dangerous. There was a recommendation to drink Smart Water from a PP. This is excellent advise. That and or any of the sport hydration drinks (there are also packets available to mix into bottled water) are essential for battling serious heat/humidity.

This. Powdered gatorade is a lifesaver on those high humidity days.

 

[neffernie]

Pickles are also loaded with electrolytes and make a darn tasty snack.

OP- glad to hear your DD is OK. If it wasn't for your fast thinking it could have been very serious. Heat stroke is bad enough but it can lead to kidney failure very, very quickly.

If at any point you feel nauseous, faint, short of breath, chills, like you have to urinate and then after a few minutes the feeling goes away, or stop sweating- GET INTO AIR CONDITIONING IMMEDIATELY! Don't tell yourself that one more ride is OK or that you will miss your FP window. You might miss alot more if you do.

Take off your hat and shoes. Wash your hands and put cold water on your head. These are all places that heat leaves the body quickest. Help it out a little.

 

[Carbonfiber07]

Take off your hat and shoes. Wash your hands and put cold water on your head. These are all places that heat leaves the body quickest. Help it out a little.

This. I live in Orlando, and yes, it is hot and humid during the summer, and taking off shoes is one of the fastest ways *I* cool down. YMMV.

To the OP - I am happy to hear that your loved one ended up fine.

 

[Donald Duck888]

So sorry to hear about your scare you certainly did the right thing in getting your child to a cool place. My daughter had a similar reaction several years ago when at Disney and it is scary stuff. We did the same thing as you and got her to a cool place and all was well after that as we took things much slower and purposly sought out more A/C for the rest of the trip.

Heat (especially when combined with high humidity) kills more people worldwide each year than any other weather situation. Florida especially in a park like Disney can be dangerously hot at times (much hotter than surrounding areas actually). As you said in your title it really does need to be taken seriously.

I saw someone mention pickles as a good hydration source and I wanted to add watermellon to the list of "good hydraters" as it is loaded with potassium which along with sodium is lost in sweat and both are extremly important to muscle (including ones heart muscle) function. Ok science lesson over lol.

 

[DisGirl819]

This. Powdered gatorade is a lifesaver on those high humidity days.

Something else to throw in the suitcase Great idea, I was wondering how to get gatorade to our rooms when our Garden Grocer order is already finalized.