Lack of H2O Woes

Last weekend Mike took the kids to Sandia Peak to go on a hike.  Mike is not used to the heat of the southwest -- the dry heat which causes some to sweat less and not realize they're thirsty or possibly dehydrated.

That night he felt tired and a little sore from the hiking.  He had carried Jojo part of the way and thought that may have been the reason for his exhaustion.

I heard Mike wake up around 3:30 that morning and walk to the fan switch. He had felt chilled, so he turned off the fan.  I vaguely remember hearing his footsteps when all of I sudden I heard a loud WHUMP. "Mike, are you ok?"  No answer.  I quickly jumped out of bed to turn on the light to see where he was. 

Poor Mike was out and I had to tap his face and shake him a little.  He had landed between the bed and our dresser, so the first thought I had was he must have tripped and hit his head.  He slowly came to and I asked him if he had rolled off the bed.  He thought he had, but a few minutes later he remembered that he was heading towards the bathroom after having turned off the fan.

He felt nauseous and I put a wash cloth on his head and then I took his blood pressure, which was low.  The next thought that ran through my mind was that he had had a heart attack.  But he didn't have any other symptoms.  Heat exhaustion was the furthest from my mind.  Mike seemed to be improving so we did not call 911.  The following day after speaking to friends and family about what had happened, we realized that he may have had heat exhaustion and had possibly been dehydrated. And then I heard that my cousin's daughter had experienced the same thing a few weeks prior -- nausea, fainting.  Lesson:  Always drink plenty of fluids when outdoors in the heat.