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About this tool
Tick the signs, get an ordered cooling protocol, estimated cooling time and the NWS heat index for the conditions.
Heat stroke is defined as a core body temperature above 40 °C (104 °F) combined with central nervous system dysfunction — confusion, slurred speech, seizure or collapse — and it is a medical emergency. This checklist separates heat stroke from heat exhaustion using that definition, then lays out the cooling steps in order and estimates how many minutes each cooling method needs to bring the casualty down to the 38.9 °C stop-cooling target. It also computes the National Weather Service heat index for the air temperature and humidity you enter.
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Triage follows the 40 °C core temperature plus altered mental state rule used in emergency medicine.
Published cooling rates show why immersion at about 0.2 °C per minute beats ice packs at about 0.05.
Conditions are scored with the NWS Rothfusz regression and its published humidity adjustments.
Heat stroke involves the brain: confusion, slurred speech, irrational behaviour, seizure or unconsciousness, usually with a core temperature above 40 °C (104 °F). Heat exhaustion causes heavy sweating, nausea, headache, dizziness and weakness but the person stays orientated and can answer questions normally. Any altered mental state in the heat is treated as heat stroke until proven otherwise.
Cold water immersion — the whole body in a tub of cold water up to the neck — is the fastest, cooling at roughly 0.15 to 0.35 °C per minute. Tarp-assisted cooling with ice water is next, and ice packs to the neck, armpits and groin are about four times slower than immersion. Cooling is stopped at about 38.9 °C (102 °F) to avoid overshooting into hypothermia.
Cool first, transport second. Survival in exertional heat stroke approaches 100% when core temperature is brought below 40 °C within 30 minutes of collapse, and that clock keeps running inside an ambulance. Call emergency services, start cooling where you are, and tell the crew the time of collapse and the temperatures you measured.
No. Antipyretics work by resetting the brain's thermostat during a fever from infection; heat stroke is a failure to shed heat, so they have no effect and can add liver and clotting risk in a casualty who is already stressed. Physical cooling is the only treatment that works. Speak to a doctor about medicines, and never give anything by mouth to someone who is confused or drowsy.