Chapter 681 Heat Injuries
Heat illness is the 3rd leading cause of death in U.S. high school athletes. It is a continuum of clinical signs and symptoms that can be mild (heat stress) to fatal (heatstroke) (Chapter 64). Children are more vulnerable to heat illness than adults. They have greater ratio of surface area to body mass than adults and produce greater heat per kilogram of body weight than adults during activity. The sweat rate is lower in children and the temperature at which sweating occurs is higher. Children can take longer to acclimatize to warmer, more humid environments (typically 8-12 near-consecutive days of 30-45 min exposures). Children also have a blunted thirst response compared to adults and might not consume enough fluid during exercise to prevent dehydration.