22
May 1999
MEMORANDUM
FOR ALL NER WING CCs AND SEs
FROM: NER/SE [Maj Richard Greenhut, CAP]
SUBJECT: Heat Prostration / Heatstroke
1. With summer finally here and ground team
activities, encampments, and real and practice missions occurring across the
Region, it’s important to remember the signs of heat prostration and
heatstroke, and what to do about them.
I was reminded about this by a recent posting on the internet regarding
the Army’s rules regarding curtailed activity during periods of high heat /
humidity. There is no excuse for having Cadets and Senior Members working in more
extreme conditions than trained and acclimated soldiers are allowed to work
in. Both the Army and the Air Force use
a system of “flags” to denote the current conditions. Posting these colored flags seems to me to be a good idea,
particularly for Cadet Encampments. For
the record, the Army guidelines are as follows:
Heat Stress
“Flag” Chart
|
Heat Category |
Flag Color |
Risk Level |
Heat Index Degrees
F |
Water Qt / Hr |
Work / Rest Cycles (Minutes) |
|
||||||
|
1 |
White |
Lowest |
88º
- 95º |
1/2 |
Continuous |
||||||
|
2 |
Green |
Low |
96º
B 105º |
1/2 |
50
On / 10 Off |
||||||
|
3 |
Yellow |
Medium |
106º
B 117º |
1 |
45
On / 15 Off |
||||||
|
4 |
Red |
High |
118º
B 126º |
1.5 |
30
On / 30 Off |
||||||
|
5 |
Black † |
Very
High |
127º
+ |
2 + |
20
On / 40 Off |
||||||
|
† Suspend all
physical training and
any strenuous activities. |
|||||||||||
|
Note: “Rest” means minimal physical activity. Rest should only be accomplished in the
shade if possible. Any activity
requiring minimal physical activity can be performed during “Rest”
periods, such as training by
lectures or demonstration. |
|||||||||||
2. The Heat Index is a relative measure of how
the body actually perceives and responds to the heat stress imposed upon it by
the ambient conditions. To calculate
the Heat Index, use the following table (you may want to cut these tables out
and mount them on a piece of cardboard for use in the field):
Heat Index Chart ( Temperature & Relative Humidity )
|
R H (%) |
T e m p e r a t u r e ( º F ) |
|||||||||||||||
|
90º |
91º |
92º |
93º |
94º |
95º |
96º |
97º |
98º |
99º |
100º |
101º |
102º |
103º |
104º |
105º |
|
|
90 % |
119º |
123º |
128º |
132º |
137º |
141º |
146º |
152º |
157º |
163º |
168º |
174º |
180º |
186º |
193º |
199º |
|
85 % |
115º |
119º |
123º |
127º |
132º |
136º |
141º |
145º |
150º |
155º |
161º |
166º |
172º |
178º |
184º |
190º |
|
80 % |
112º |
115º |
119º |
123º |
127º |
131º |
135º |
140º |
144º |
149º |
154º |
159º |
164º |
169º |
175º |
180º |
|
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