For my first blog post I would like to introduce myself. My name is Scott Schultz MD. I am a board-certified emergency medicine physician who became obsessed by heat illness and specifically the Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT). I also founded Zelusports.com and the Zelus WBGT app. The mission of Zelus is to help decrease heat related illness by providing accurate WBGT readings for free. No longer are you required to have a dedicated and expensive heat stress monitor to obtain WBGT readings.
In this blog I will discuss everything from the concept of WBGT and how to monitor it, to current heat related news, and everything in-between. The posts will be fact-based. I will discuss the rationale of using WBGT in helping to determine outdoor activity levels, while also dispelling some of the myths and old wives’ tales associated with WBGT and heat illness.
To start the blog off let’s bust a myth! “If a person is sweating, they’re not experiencing heat stroke.” I am uncertain where this myth started, or why it is propagated. In classic heat stroke of an infant or elderly person, you can see the textbook example of hot, red, dry skin. However, an athlete having an exertional heat stroke will still be heavily sweating. In a person who is exerting themselves, the usual progression of heat illness goes from heat exhaustion to heat stroke. One of the hallmarks of heat exhaustion is profuse sweating. Your body does not just stop sweating because your internal temperature gets to 104 F (40 C). A person can have red/dry skin OR be sweating profusely while having a heat stroke. Do not even consider the condition of the skin to determine if someone is having heat stroke!
Until next time, stay cool!😎
