Dehydration Prevention

Severe dehydration symptoms include:

• extreme thirst
• irritability and confusion in adults and extreme fussinessor sleepiness in infants and children
• very dry mouth, skin and mucous membranes
• lack of sweating
• little or no urination
• sunken eyes
• shrunken or dry skin without elasticity
• low blood pressure
• rapid heartbeat
• fever.

In the most serious cases, the victim may be delirious or unconscious.

Severe dehydration is a life-threatening medical emergency and you must seek medical attention immediately.

On a hot day in the Arizona desert, the average person loses about three gallons or more of water - just from sweating.

Even small percentages of water loss can be harmful - or even fatal - if you do not replace the water lost from your body.

But don’t let this scare you.

• How much water should you drink? Health professionals usually recommend drinking eight to ten 8-ounce glasses of water daily as a basic guideline, even if you stay indoors all day.

  While this is the generally accepted minimum for dehydration prevention, each person is unique and some may lose fluids more rapidly than others. During periods of extreme heat or activity, you will need to drink more.

• How do you know if you're drinking enough? The average, healthy adult produces about 6.3 cups of urine daily. So, if you're drinking enough so that you rarely feel thirsty and your producing about 6.3 cups of colorless or slightly yellow urine per day, your water intake should be adequate.

  However, you may need to increase your fluid intake if you have an increased activity level, if you are in a hot or humid environment, if you are suffering from an illness or are pregnant or breast-feeding.

• Drink an extra quart of water a day during a heat wave.
• Drink before you feel thirsty. You will become dehydrated before you think you are.
• Reducing activity during the hottest part of the day (10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.) can really help with dehydration prevention. Just remember that you will still need to drink water even if you’re resting in the shade.
• Wearing sunscreen will help with dehydration prevention. Sunburns cause fluid loss and lessen your body’s ability to cool itself.
• Drink water before, during and after exercise or other exertion for dehydration prevention.
• Avoid drinking caffeinated or alcoholic beverages, which are dehydrating.
• Drink extra water when pregnant or nursing.
• Carefully monitor children for signs of dehydration. Monitor their water intake and make sure they are drinking.
• Check on elderly and disabled people during hot weather. They are often at greater risk for dehydration.
• Check your urine. It should be a colorless or a pale yellow, like the color of straw. If it’s scant or dark-colored, drink more water.
• During hiking or backpacking in hot weather, you’ll need more fluids for dehydration prevention. However, your body can absorb only about 1 quart of water per hour. So, drink about ½ to 1 quart of water or electrolyte replacement drink for every hour that you hike in the heat.
• If you must hike during hot weather, rest often, sitting in the shade. Wet your hat and shirt. Wear a banadana around your neck.
• Balance your food intake and water consumption. Don’t forget to eat. Hot weather may decrease your appetite but you need to replace the salts your body loses through sweat and exertion. Eat a salty snack when you take a drink.
• If you’re hiking at a higher altitude, you’ll need to drink more water for dehydration prevention because you lose more at altitude.
• DO NOT drink so much water that you repeatedly bloat yourself. Water intoxication, or hyponatremia, is caused by low sodium levels in the body. This condition is just as dangerous as dehydration and occurs when you drink too much water and don’t replace the salts your body lost during sweating.

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