Heat-related illness: a hot topic in critical care

With current predictions of climate change, the incidence of heat-related illnesses is projected to increase. Heat-related illnesses occur on a continuum from mild symptoms to fatalities. To prevent heat-related illnesses, nurses should have comprehension of persons at risk. Primary treatment of heat-related illness centers on cooling, but not overcooling, the patient. Heatstroke involves coagulopathies and cytokines, and can result in systemic inflammatory response syndrome and multiple organ dysfunction. Critical care nursing intervention requires more than effective cooling to support bodily processes that have been damaged or destroyed by the pathophysiology of heatstroke.