Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Heat Illness: 2019 Update

Grant S Lipman; Flavio G Gaudio; Kurt P Eifling; Mark A Ellis; Edward M Otten; Colin K Grissom

doi:10.1016/j.wem.2018.10.004

Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention and Treatment of Heat Illness: 2019 Update

Wilderness Environ Med. 2019 Dec;30(4S):S33-S46. doi: 10.1016/j.wem.2018.10.004. Epub 2019 Jun 17.

Authors

Grant S Lipman¹, Flavio G Gaudio², Kurt P Eifling³, Mark A Ellis⁴, Edward M Otten⁵, Colin K Grissom⁶

Affiliations

¹ Department of Emergency Medicine, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA. Electronic address: grantlip@hotmail.com.
² Department of Emergency Medicine, New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, NY.
³ Division of Emergency Medicine, Larner College of Medicine at the University of Vermont, Burlington, VT.
⁴ Department of Emergency Medicine, Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System, Spartanburg, SC.
⁵ Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH.
⁶ Pulmonary and Critical Care Division, Intermountain Medical Center and the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT.

PMID: 31221601
DOI: 10.1016/j.wem.2018.10.004

Abstract

The Wilderness Medical Society convened an expert panel in 2011 to develop a set of evidence-based guidelines for the recognition, prevention, and treatment of heat illness. We present a review of the classifications, pathophysiology, and evidence-based guidelines for planning and preventive measures, as well as best practice recommendations for both field- and hospital-based therapeutic management of heat illness. These recommendations are graded based on the quality of supporting evidence and balance the benefits and risks or burdens for each modality. This is an updated version of the original Wilderness Medical Society Practice Guidelines for the Treatment and Prevention of Heat-Related Illness published in 2013.

Keywords: heat stroke; hyperthermia; prevention; recognition; treatment.

Publication types

Practice Guideline

MeSH terms

Heat Stress Disorders / classification
Heat Stress Disorders / physiopathology
Heat Stress Disorders / prevention & control*
Heat Stress Disorders / therapy
Humans
Practice Patterns, Physicians'*
Societies, Medical
Wilderness Medicine / methods
Wilderness Medicine / standards*