CLINTON, Miss. (WJTV) – While every high school fan base in Mississippi gathered under the stadium lights for Friday night football few may have realized their health was at risk in this heat.
At every game, AMR paramedics and athletic trainers were standing by to assist players and spectators.
No matter how adaptive you might think your body is to mother nature turning it up, hydration never stops becoming an issue. So while players and their families enjoy this fall tradition it’s important they stay cool.
Under the blazing sun parts of the Magnolia State saw triple-digit temperatures this evening, but that won’t stop these folks from heading to the gridiron.
“Came out to support the Warriors and watch my girls cheer, but It is hot it is not football weather,” Dan Moulder of Christian Academy said.
As the teams take the field and cheerleaders jump on the sidelines, it can be easy to expect being tired. Making common signs for dehydration overlooked.
“You would expect to feel a bit drained and so it maybe can kind of slip upon you,” AMR Supervisor Diane Sampson told us. “You don’t realize you’ve reached that point. It’s easy to get there quicker than you might think.”
So paramedics and athletic training staff constantly stress from the field to those in the stands to know the signs.
“Weakness, fatigue, muscle cramps are a very key factor,” Sampson explained. “Even to the point of an altered mental status depending on the degree that’s going on there.”
On any given day the average person needs about one gallon of water to stay hydrated, but when you’re out playing football in these weather conditions AMR experts believe that amount needs to be doubled.
“If we were called to the field and what we would do especially in cases of heat stroke or heat exhaustion you know supportive oxygen,” Sampson continued. “Put them on the monitor to get good vital signs and I.V access to replace fluids would be the immediate treatment that we would do.”
Overall everyone seemed to be aware to drink plenty of water and both teams training staff stocked up on water jugs with over 10 bags of ice.
Virtually in every school district paramedics and trainers are required to be on-site before and during a football game. When it comes to Clinton Christian Academy the athletic director also has a local backup team in case the main trainers can’t make it.
