SATURDAY, March 5, 2011 (HealthDay News) -- Warm weather will soon be here, and that means you'll need to take steps to prevent heat illness when exercising outdoors.
You can stay safe by following a number of tips from the National Athletic Trainers' Association (NATA) and the Korey Stringer Institute (KSI) at the University of Connecticut. The institute's mission is to prevent sudden death in sport, especially from exercise-related heat stroke.
"We can't completely prevent heat illness, but the following tips can help in any instance of physical activity in the heat," Brendon McDermott, an athletic trainer at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga and a member of the KSI medical and science advisory board, said in a NATA news release.
"The goal is to avoid potential consequences through education of athletes, coaches, parents and health-care providers about what can be done to prevent and treat exertional heat illnesses," he added.
The tips from the NATA and KSI include:
Heat-related illnesses include exertional heat stroke, in which core body temperature rises dangerously high and can lead to seizures, confusion and death if not treated quickly, and heat exhaustion, which is marked by dizziness, profuse sweating or pale skin, headache and nausea and is usually treated with rest and fluids.
More information
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has more about heat injury and heat exhaustion.