Table 4-1. Wind chill chart.
Section II. ENVIRONMENTAL HEAT INJURIES
4-9.
INTRODUCTION
Prevention of heat injury is a command responsibility and function. The staff
surgeon is responsible for recommending the initiation of measures to safeguard health
and for supervision of the execution of these measures. In the recent past, a battalion
arrived at Qui Nhon, Vietnam, after 18 days on shipboard. The men were brought into
an area of inadequate water and shade, and they began to work as if at their home
station. In the first 72 hours, approximately 100 men were treated for heat prostration
and a few for heatstroke. The situation was especially bad because medical supplies
had not been unloaded first and no salt was available. Knowledge and proper planning
would have prevented these casualties.
4-10. ENVIRONMENTAL AND PHYSIOLOGICAL FACTORS
a. Exposure to high environmental temperature produces stress on the body
that may lead to illness and disability. The conditions in the environment that influence
the heat of the body and its adjustments are the temperatures of the air, the
temperature of the surrounding objects, the vapor pressure of the water in the air
(relative humidity), the air movement, and the type and amount of clothing worn. The
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