CHESTERFIELD COUNTY, Va. -- Paramedics were called to Manchester High School in Chesterfield County on Monday for two cases of heat-related injuries.
The students were two of more than 100 students training for Manchester's football team.
Both students, a police source said, were taken to the hospital as a precaution.
While students across Central Virginia are accustomed to training in the heat and humidity of the late summer, pediatricians say heat exhaustion is common and dangerous this time of year.
“These children can get low degrees of an elevated temperature or fever,” said pediatrician Dr. Eric Freeman. “These children become very dizzy, weak and sometimes they have very profuse sweating.”
The symptoms of heat exhaustion can come on quickly, but can easily be prevented. Doctors recommend that student athletes drink 4 to 8 ounces of water or sports drink for every 20 minutes of exercise.
They also recommend taking breaks of 15 to 20 minutes for every hour of rigorous activity.
Dr. Eric Freeman
Freeman said, when ignored, heat exhaustion can have serious consequences and even lead to a heat stroke.
“Sometimes we see heart failure and death,” Freeman warns. “I think it’s important for athletes and their parents and coaches to be very cognizant of signs of any degree of heat-related illnesses and take it seriously.”
