Physiological Responses to Heat Stress During High-risk Events

Summary

Exertional heat stroke (EHS) affects \~500 Military Personnel and over 100 Soldiers every year, and it is believed that these numbers are underreported. EHS is the most severe form of exertional heat illness (EHI) and can result in substantial, long-lasting organ damage, and even death in severe cases. Based on current knowledge and training needs, it is impossible to prevent every EHS - which shifts the focus from exclusively prevention to a combination of prevention, treatment, and enhancing recovery as much as possible. While many risk factors have been identified and there are adequate treatments available, biomarkers associated with heat stroke risk, recovery, and return-to-duty (RTD) remain largely unclear. The purpose of the proposed study is to enhance knowledge surrounding biomarkers of EHS and long-term health consequences that result from EHS. The investigators will recruit research volunteers for a field study in order to collect pre-, post-, and follow-up measures from a high-risk EHS event (i.e. ruck marches, timed runs) this will allow us to have a basis for comparison between Soldiers who collapse with EHS (from previously collected data) and those that complete high-risk events, but do not collapse. This will allow for comparison between the groups to identify EHS-specific biomarkers that could aid in recovery and RTD decisions for Soldiers.

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