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Mumsnet doesn't verify the qualifications of users. If you have medical concerns, please consult a healthcare professional.

General health

Heat Stroke??

44 replies

SmallShips · 28/07/2008 19:03

Please help, i'm in a bit over my head here! My best friend is staying with me this week whilst my DH is at sea.

Anyway shes just been sent home from work (hot kitchen), as she nearly passed out. She got here literally stepped through the door and threw up. Gave her water, but shes very sunburnt from a weekend of pimms and sleeping on the beach. She has headache, muscle aches, nausea/vomitting, very hot, but not sweating, she also said she has the runs, (my 1st thought was a bug, but apprentely she gets the runs when shes about to come on, which she is), shes quite confused and feels like shes in a bubble, although she is talking relatively normally.

What do i do here, googling says 999, but shes told me not to be so ridiculous!

OP posts:

Report

AvenaLife · 28/07/2008 19:16

Call 999. Heatstroke can cause coma and death. Don't leave it to chance. She needs a drip ASAP! Get your act together and call an ambulance. She needs specific treatment that you are unable to give. I'm not kidding here!

Get off the computer and phone an ambulance!

SmallShips · 28/07/2008 19:29

called the out of hours doctor, panicing now. Feck am phoning ambulance.

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AvenaLife · 28/07/2008 19:31

AMBULANCE NOW!!!!! Tell them she has signs of heat hyperpyrexia. It's a medical emergency and she needs urgent medical treatment. Dial 999.

ib · 28/07/2008 19:31

Glad you are calling ambulance. Hope she gets seen to soon.

mananny · 28/07/2008 19:33

agree with avenalife, I have a friend who had the same thing after a day on the beach and no fluid intake. Its essential she gets on iv fluids ASAP.

nervousal · 28/07/2008 19:37

calm down! My dp had heat stroke a while ago - advice was that as long as he was responsive just to get him to drink lots and give him a lukewarm shower (not a cold one). If your friend is talking normally to you then she does not need a drip - and does not need an emergency ambulance. Call NHS Direct/24 for advice

SmallShips · 28/07/2008 19:39

just an update, just as i was about to ring, the out of hours phoned back, shes on with them now. Theyve just told her its a stomach bug! WTF! Shes 100% sure its not a bug, she can tell the difference. Shes just lying on the sofa, shes not thrown up again or pooed, which definately makes me think not a bug.

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SmallShips · 28/07/2008 19:41

She is talking normally BTW. Its the fact that shes sooooo hot, but not sweating thats bothering me. Even when she threw up she came out dry and usually it makes you sweaty. Will keep shoving water down her neck.

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nervousal · 28/07/2008 19:42

glad you've called out-of-hours. If you still think its heat stroke give her plenty to drink and keep her cool. When DP had it it was scary - he was really hot, no sweating. He'd been out running, hot day nad had a few beers. He was fine.

Mananny - what makes you think smallships friend needs iv fluids??

SmallShips · 28/07/2008 19:44

the guy on the phone did mention IV drip if symptoms didnt stop, he gave heat stroke advice, but told her she had a bug.

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AvenaLife · 28/07/2008 19:46

She's got signs of a condition worse then heat stroke so she does need medical assistance. Don't take the risk. Call an ambulance and let them decide. Just because someone's husband didn't need treatment this does not mean your friend won't aswell. People react differently, her husband's condition may have been mild. We are not there with you so can not see, not all of us are medically trained. Call the professionals and let them decide.

If she's vomiting then any water you give her will be of no use. She needs an isotonic drip as any water she might be able to keep down will not get into her organs fast enough to cool her down and rehydrate her.

AvenaLife · 28/07/2008 19:47

Take her temperature. What is it?

nervousal · 28/07/2008 19:49

avena - she has called out-of-hours and gotten professional advice? She has stopped vomiting so is keeping fluids down?

Podrick · 28/07/2008 19:49

put her in a cool bath?

SmallShips · 28/07/2008 19:52

low fever 100.4. But i thought it was core temp that was the issue, shes sat on the sofa with the the fan on and the patio doors open.

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AvenaLife · 28/07/2008 19:53

The danger with any type of dehydration is that the patient can look ok but they are not. NHS Direct are notorious for giving out advice that is inappropriate. Water is different to an isotonic drip so will not rehydrate a dehydrated patient. That's why we give our kids diarolite when they have the shits, it replaces the electrolytes.

What's her temperature?

SmallShips · 28/07/2008 19:54

it was a crappy forehead strip, so probably not very accurate. Im going to put her in a lukewarm shower.

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SmallShips · 28/07/2008 19:56

it wasnt NHS Direct, it was my local hospitals out of hours doctor. I think i'll phone NHS though for a second opinion

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nervousal · 28/07/2008 19:56

of course water will rehydrate! 100.4 is high- keep up the fluids, and a cool bath would be a good idea. If you are still worried call NHS Direct again.

AvenaLife · 28/07/2008 20:02

It depends how you take the temp.

Look, I'd give A&E a call and tell them what you have written above. There are going to be people who disagree but they are entitled to do so. I always work on the side of caution. I would seriously not leave this. It may turn out to be nothing and they may discharge her if you take her to the hospital but this IMO is a risk that I would not take. I've seen a child die because she had a pain in her chest and her parent thought it was nothing.

It sounds more serious than heat stroke and the recommended treatment for heat stroke is a drip.

AvenaLife · 28/07/2008 20:04

Forehead strips are between 2-4oC out by the way so she is hotter then you think. We don't use them in the hospital for this reason.

mananny · 28/07/2008 20:06

Water will not rehydrate a person who is already so dehydrated that they are exhibiting signs of illness. Water alone cannot enter the cells of the body fast enough to aid recovery that is why any seriously dehydrated person whether adult or child needs iv fluids with the right electrolytes in to help hydrate the cells properly in the shortest time possible. Dehydrated people can go from weak and throwing up to comatose in a very short time, so its always better to err on the side of caution so the body doesn't go even furthrt into hyperpyrexia. Once that process starts the only way to get the person better is iv fluids. I've seen it happen and I'm training to be a nurse. I would rather over react and have my friend up and about in an hour (which is likely after iv is started) than get more seriously ill and require more treatments than a simple drip.

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AvenaLife · 28/07/2008 20:08

Thanks mananny.

mananny · 28/07/2008 20:09

And the fact she's very hot but NOT sweating shows she is very dehydrated already.

nervousal · 28/07/2008 20:10

Avena - are you a nurse or a doctor? I would have thought 100.4 (or up to about 103)was a mild fever? To me this sound like heat exhaustion - why do you think it sounds like something more serious?

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