The late summer swelter is still in full swing and so are the practices for fall sports. Staying indoors is how most of us beat the heat, but for those on the sidelines like athletic trainer Rachel Lewis, staying safe during your summer and fall activities starts with preparation.
What are some of the biggest health concerns you're watching athletes for during these hotter months?
“Our biggest concern is always that heat illness. We don't want anyone to get to their core temperature so high to where they're starting to have detrimental effects. The largest one of those would be heat stroke where they're having central nervous system issues, usually loss of consciousness or become disoriented; severe issues like that. Those would usually stand out pretty clearly, but some of those earlier signs where we're talking a heat exhaustion, those milder sort of symptoms that are more self-reported. So we're talking to the athletes on the sidelines and making sure that if they're starting to have those symptoms, we're starting to intervene early so that they're not developing into a full heat stroke,” said Rachel Lewis, an athletic trainer with Avera Sports.
For athletes who have to practice outside, how can coaches and trainers prepare the team to help limit their heat illness risk?
“You can work on preventing this by having supplies available for cooling down an athlete or an individual. Having water readily available, anything you can get that's cold, whether it's cold towels, ice packs, anything like that that can be applied to the body to help cool them down can help to prevent heat illness as well,” said Lewis.
How important is hydration when you have to be out in the elements?
“Hydration is key. Your body's main method of cooling is by sweating. So by sweating, you're losing water, you're losing those electrolytes and all that. So replenishing those and making sure that you're staying hydrated is one of the best ways to prevent a heat illness. That being said, it's not a quick fix like in an hour. It's usually at least a couple hours to a couple of days to where you can get all the way back up to a baseline if you did get to the point of full dehydration. If you did get into a heat illness, it's usually 24 to 48 hours to recover,” said Lewis.
How do you as an athletic trainer help coaches and athletes stay safe during practice?
“We're always watching our athletes very closely. We get to know them. We get to know how they usually move and if we're watching something where we see somebody starting to limp or they look really sluggish, they look really tired today, we're trying to make those interventions early to try and prevent any issues. We're also always provide the tape pre-practice, asking what can we do to help that athlete be successful on the field? We can help athletes so much more if they are upfront and honest about what's going on. When athletes try and hide issues early on, they usually become bigger issues later down the road. So it's a huge thing for athletes or anybody to advocate for yourself. If something doesn't feel right, communicate that and talk to a professional,” said Lewis.
What do you hope is the take home message for athletes and coaches this summer and fall?
“I would say be prepared. Make sure you know what you're going into. Drink lots of water ahead of time. It's much easier to prevent than it is to treat on the back end. So making sure that you're taking care of yourself. You're eating well, you're hydrating before practices or before activities so that you can help to take care of yourself,” said Lewis.
Learn more about heat illness and other primary care topics at Avera.
