Quote:
|
Originally Posted by x_sf_med
Guys in the Summer Classes - you are not superman - drink water!! I repeat, drink water - lots of it. During the heatwave of 1980 I went through Airborne School - we had a LOT of heat injuries - but the interesting part was about 50% were the instructors, trying to prove they were tougher than everybody else. Smart is better than tough, and a heat injury if severe enough can get you into a REMF job for the rest of your career.
|
X SF MED,
You are so right on this one. We managed to ONLY have 8 heat casualties from the last class and no heat stroke issues during team week. The cadre spent alot of time watching the candidates making sure they were taking care of themselves. However, like you said, drink lots of water and they aren't superman.....consider everything an assessment. Guys who had to be poked or prodded to drink were definately doing all they could to DE-Select themselves. We need smart, strong guys who play well with others and who realize that they are human as well. The July class will be crushing from a heat perspective (we hit heat Cat 5 everyday before 1020 Hrs during class 07-06) Candidates can expect Heat Cat 5 by 0900 everyday in July so be smart or you'll be on the shortbus home or to the hospital. Here is how it breaks down...Heat Cramps suck, but you'll RTD soon enough....Heat Exhaustion = 3 Month Profile, drop from SFAS and possible reclass to a REMF job or...... Heat Stroke = End of a possible SF career....if you're lucky you'll remain on active duty! IN ALL HEAT CASES, if a guy goes down in SFAS with a suspected heat related problem, he gets a thermometer inserted to check for BODY CORE temperature (it's not under the tongue either!) right there in front of everybody present. We don't take chances and we don't screw around, you'll get equal treatment from the medics.
If you're coming to class 501-06, start hydrating NOW. You can only ingest 12 quarts a day regardless of how much you exercise or work. More then that is bad for you. That information is straight from the head Fort Heat casualty expert. Get ahead of the powercurve or you'll be left behind...just ask the Class 07-06 guys.