In this episode, we investigate the scary reality of heat stroke in the sweltering state of Texas. As someone who investigates deaths, I share a bone-chilling story of someone who lost their life to this dangerous condition. We also look at the warning signs that can lead to this tragedy and face the terrible results of not understanding how strong extreme heat can be. Join me as we uncover the serious effects of this silent killer and understand the profound impact it can have on your life.
CONNECT WITH JULIE MATTSON:
• Website: https://pushinguplilies.com
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pushinguplilies
0:06 Welcome to Pushing Up Lilies.
0:08 I'm your host, Julie Mattson.
0:10 Pushing Up Lilies is a weekly true crime podcast with spine tingling, unusual and terrifyingly true stories from my perspective as a forensic death investigator and a sexual assault nurse examiner.
0:24 Do I have some stories for you?
0:26 Are you ready?
0:30 We're getting into some serious heat in Texas y'all.
0:34 Yesterday I worked a death scene and it's most likely heat related and this was a homeless person and that's going to be a problem that we run into a lot because they can't find shelter.
0:49 They don't have a way to stay cool if there's not a shelter or some place that they can stay, our family member that they can stay with.
0:57 We see it in the winter as well when they don't have blankets and they don't have a place to stay warm.
1:03 So we're going to see it a lot this year.
1:07 I have a feeling because it's only June.
1:10 And today, for example, it's supposed to be 100 and three where I'm at in Texas.
1:16 So supposed to be 103 degrees tomorrow, supposed to be over 100 all the way through Friday and then we cool down to a crispy 93 next Tuesday and then it's going to get back up over 100 within the week.
1:35 It's rough.
1:37 If you look ahead at the forecast in Arizona, some cities in Arizona, it's going to get up to 108 today.
1:44 That's ridiculous.
1:46 I don't know if y'all remember several years ago when they said in Arizona that the green, really thick waste management trash cans were actually melting.
1:57 It gets serious when you don't have access to air conditioning or water or some way to cool your body off.
2:04 So I thought just because of the death scene that I worked yesterday and the fact that it is only June.
2:11 So, I mean, it's not even the hottest month in Texas yet, we are going to start seeing a lot of deaths related to the heat.
2:19 And so I thought it would be kind of nice to educate a little bit on what happens when we have a heat stroke because many of us sometimes are outside working and we start feeling bad and we're just like, OK, is this a heat stroke?
2:35 You know, even I've wondered before, I know that, you know, a lot of people end up in the emergency room getting IV’s because they've been exposed to the heat.
2:44 So I don't know how these guys do it on the roads, the work crew on the streets and construction crews right now in Texas.
2:53 I don't know how they do it.
2:55 Heat stroke is, it's the most serious heat related illness.
3:00 But when that occurs, the body actually cannot control its temperature at all anymore.
3:06 So your body temperature is going to rise rapidly.
3:10 But at that point, you don't sweat anymore and your body can't cool down.
3:17 So when you sweat, that's what helps your body cool down when your body temperature gets really high.
3:22 Now, the body's temperature can rise up to 106 or higher within 10 to 15 minutes when you're having a heat stroke.
3:30 And this can cause death if you don't seek emergency treatment.
3:34 So some of the symptoms are going to be like confusion.
3:39 People with altered mental status, they don't know what day it is, they start to act unusually confused, slurred speech.
3:47 They may have seizures; they may lose consciousness.
3:51 Their skin is going to be really hot and dry or they're going to be sweating profusely.
3:57 The most telltale sign to me would be just a high body temperature and that's why it's important, especially, you know, when someone arrives in the, and they think that their illness may be heat related is to check their body temperature if you come across someone like that, of course, call 911 and then move them to a shaded cool area and just take their clothes off.
4:23 I know it seems weird but just strip them down to actually wet, their skin is going to help, it's going to help cool the temperature and cold wet cloths on the skin are also going to help or soak their clothing in cool water.
4:40 Heat exhaustion is kind of how your body's going to respond to that loss of water and salt and that is going to affect the elderly and also people with high blood pressure and those working in the heat.
4:56 Again, all these construction workers, all these guys out working on the street.
5:01 I always like when I see that they have little canopies or something for them to actually get some relief.
5:08 I know here we don't get much of a breeze, but when you're suffering from heat exhaustion, you're going to have headache, nausea, dizziness, weakness.
5:20 You may be extremely thirsty, irritable sweating a lot.
5:25 Your body temperature is going to go up and your urine output is going to go down.
5:32 So this is a definitely good reason to go to the, call 911.
5:39 I would give these people liquids, of course, remove them from the heat source.
5:43 Take them in somewhere where it's cold, take their clothing off, use cold compresses and then encourage them to drink water.
5:51 We do see a lot of heat exhaustion and heat related death, especially in Texas.
5:59 And I'd like to see their stats in Arizona because I'm sure it's terrible.
6:04 I think statistically it is hotter there than it is here.
6:07 I know they say that Florida is supposed to be the hottest state, but I have to question that because they do get some rain.
6:13 So at least there's a little bit of relief but it is going to get crazy.
6:19 A lot of festivals and fairs happen in the middle of the summer and everybody's outside and drinking alcohol, which is going to dehydrate you even more.
6:29 It is going to be miserable for sure.
6:32 Now, I don't know how many of y'all have heard of Rhabdomyolysis.
6:37 But that is a condition and that's associated with heat stress and just prolonged physical exertion.
6:44 And what that does is causes muscle breakdown.
6:49 So the muscles rupture and causes muscle death and electrolytes and large proteins are then released into the bloodstream and that causes your heart rhythm to go crazy.
7:02 It can cause seizures; it can cause damage to your kidneys.
7:06 And a lot of people who experience this are having muscle cramps and pain.
7:12 Their urine is really dark, they're extremely weak, they cannot exercise, they're very intolerant to any form of exercise or exertion.
7:23 But the scary part is y'all that some people don't have any symptoms at all.
7:28 The best thing to do if these symptoms start to creep up is to stop doing what you're doing.
7:35 Don't exercise, don't exert yourself in any way, stop all activity and then drink liquids and then definitely seek emergency care.
7:46 And I think that's a big thing is a lot of people, you know, outside working in the heat.
7:51 They're like, ok, I'm going to sit in my lawn chair and drink a little bit of water and then a couple of hours they're dead.
7:57 It can happen fast.
7:59It can sneak up on somebody and I'll talk in a little bit about kind of what the process is.
8:05 And it's kind of scary.
8:06 A lot of people are just going to experience heat syncope.
8:10 And that is just when you have like a fainting episode or you're a little bit dizzy while you're out in the heat.
8:18 It can happen when you're standing too long or when you stand up after sitting or lying down.
8:25 And I have to say I get like this a lot.
8:28 I noticed yesterday, like your tolerance to heat becomes less and less as you get older.
8:36 And I've noticed that when I'm outside, I start to feel kind of dizzy and weak and faint if I'm out there for a long time and the pool doesn't even sound good.
8:46 I mean, the water in the pools here is hot.
8:49 It's not even relieving to get into a pool right now.
8:53 This is again going to happen when you're standing too long in the heat.
8:58 And that's not even when you're exerting yourself.
9:01 These people may faint, get really dizzy, get lightheaded.
9:05 Of course, the best thing to do is drink water juice or even a sports drink and then sit or lie in a cool place and then heat cramps are going to affect people who sweat a lot during strenuous activity, sweating, you know, obviously depletes the salt in our body and then low salt levels is going to cause cramps.
9:31 So, muscle cramps in your abdomen, arms and legs, if you're out in the heat is going to cause cramping because you're sweating, and your sodium level becomes low.
9:45 So it's important here have a snack that replaces carbs and electrolytes and salt and drink water.
9:52 Avoid salt tablets and then seek medical help.
9:57 If you have a history of heart problems if you're on a low sodium diet, because you already don't have a lot of salt in your body.
10:04 And if you have cramps that don't go away in an hour, then that's kind of the magic hour, right?
10:10 If you start cramping and it doesn't go away in that hour, then you definitely need to be seen if you're on the low sodium diet, your salt level is already low and when you sweat, it's going to deplete your salt even more, which is going to cause the cramping and these are miserable.
10:28 I'm pretty sure I've experienced the heat cramps before.
10:32 I don't know if you're a runner, but a lot of runners will experience cramping while they're running.
10:40 And it could be also from the heat if they're running in the summer.
10:43 So a lot of them will drink like pickle juice and that will replace some of the salt depletion that they're experiencing while they're running in the heat.
10:56 I mean, that's something to think about.
10:58 And, you know, I thought growing up, I always wondered, you know, what is a heat stroke?
11:03 Is it like a stroke?
11:05 But, I mean, I think everybody kind of is curious and hasn't really had the opportunity to educate themselves on it.
11:13 But this time of year it becomes scary.
11:15 And I know we all see like heat rashes that's going to be like skin irritation and that's just caused from excessive sweating when the weather is humid.
11:26 So you might see like red clusters of pimples or blisters on the neck area, upper chest growing even under your breast, those moist areas that don't get a lot of air and then on your elbows.
11:42 So if you work in a cooler place and try to keep that rash dry and apply powder and don't use ointments or creams because that's actually going to prevent you from sweating because it's going to cover those sweat glands, hot temperatures can contribute to death from heart attack and stroke.
12:06 So if you have those underlying health problems, it definitely is not going to benefit you to be in the heat.
12:17 Now, a lot of people, as we know have underlying heart problems that have not been diagnosed.
12:24 We are stubborn.
12:25 We don't like to go to the doctor.
12:26 We don't want to wait, we don't want to take medications.
12:29 Some people don't have insurance, so they're not going to go to the doctor and they're not going to be diagnosed with heart problems and just because they don't have a diagnosis and they're not on medications does not mean that those problems don't exist.
12:46 We're going to need to kind of assume that the elderly people in the heat have some sort of underlying health issue that's going to cause them to suffer even more if they're in the heat.
12:59 So, I think according to statistics, about 618 people in the US are killed by extreme heat every year.
13:09 Now, our organs are going to shut down at about 100 and four degrees.
13:16 And then by the time our temperature or our body temperature gets up to 107, that's when a person's going to die.
13:26 So in 2023 we had 23 cases of heat related illness.
13:32 And in 2022 279 people in Texas died due to the heat.
13:38 Now, a lot of these are probably like I said, construction workers, people working outside or the elderly or homeless.
13:47 So the homeless are going to have preexisting conditions because number one, they can't stay hydrated, they're out in the sun many times.
13:58 If they do have some underlying health issues, they're not on medications, they can't afford medications.
14:04 They might have high blood pressure; they can't take their medication.
14:08 And those people as we know are at higher risk, our bodies are basically fighting to keep our internal temperature from rising to meet the temperature that it is outside.
14:22 I mean, I have to say I am not looking forward to this week at all.
14:26 Fourth of July weekend is this coming weekend, everybody's going to be outside.
14:33 I don't even want to know what the temperature is going to be this weekend.
14:38 But, you know, hyperthermia begins when sweating can decrease the body temperature.
14:46 And then someone will have heat cramps and then they'll stop sweating and then their bodies swell, and their muscles sees basically.
14:57 But at that point when you first start to feel hot, you're uncomfortable, but you really don't feel like you're dying.
15:05 So a lot of people that are outside working are like, I really don't feel great, but I'm fine.
15:10 You know, I'm going to drink again.
15:12 Right.
15:12 I'm going to keep working.
15:13 I'm going to push through this, the workday is almost over.
15:16 But after that, they're going to start becoming lethargic, they're going to not be as alert.
15:25 They're going to seem like they're a little bit out of it.
15:2 8Their mental state is going to be altered.
15:31 But then, and y'all what scares me after that, you're no longer aware of pain or discomfort.
15:38 So you're going in and out of consciousness and you don't even realize that you're in pain and you don't even realize anymore that your body is uncomfortable because of the heat.
15:49 And after that, the cells in all your organs are going to swell and then burst and then basically die.
15:59 Actual death is caused by either heart attack or organ failure.
16:05 And this can happen within 2 to 3 hours, and they say that near the end stages of heat stroke, you are filled with euphoria, which I guess this came from someone who's experienced and I have to assume, but they say at the point that you are no longer in pain and you're no longer uncomfortable, you just feel euphoric.
16:32 So at that point you just lay there and die, your body does not have that fight or flight reaction.
16:38 Oh my gosh, something's wrong.
16:39 I need to go to the, I need to call someone for help.
16:43 That doesn't happen anymore.
16:44 So you can actually feel bothered by heat to dead in about 90 minutes.
16:50 So it won't take long and I don't think people realize how quickly that it can happen.
16:56 Now, one thing I did notice on this case yesterday and we will see in all the heat related deaths is the skin slipping off.
17:07 So I guess it almost looks like it's peeling would be the best way to describe it, but the release of the enzymes are actually going to loosen and sluff the epidermis.
17:21 So it may initially look like a blister or a vesicle filled with fluid and then if it's a blister it's going to burst and then it's going to just basically sluff the skin off.
17:39 We see this in the heat related deaths.
17:42 I did see this in the death from yesterday.
17:45 He was in an open area.
17:47 It was uncovered, he was exposed to direct sunlight, it was only 84 degrees.
17:56 But we don't know how long he'd been there.
17:59 We have to remember yesterday was Monday.
18:03 For example, Sunday, he could have been there all day long and no one could have seen him.
18:08 So we don't really know when someone has found how long they've been exposed to the heat or how long they've been there.
18:16 And in this particular case, this guy was not in a covered area.
18:22 So any point in time he would have been there, he would have been exposed to extreme heat.
18:29 I think at 7 a.m. is still like 79 degrees.
18:33 And if you're in an area where there's no breeze, it just feels hot.
18:38 I mean, a lot of people they have on blue jeans and long sleeve shirts to keep from getting a sunburn, it is hot.
18:46 We will see and I did see this yesterday, what's called cutaneous peti.
18:53 Now when I rolled him over and we do look at the back, we see round spots on the skin.
19:00 This is caused by bleeding under the skin.
19:03 They can be red brown or purple.
19:06 It's going to look a little bit like a rash, it's going to be flat and when you push on it, it'll change color or lighten.
19:14 So we will see blanching.
19:17 This is what I saw yesterday.
19:20 And literally y'all, this guy looked like he was sleeping.
19:23 So he was found by a construction crew, the construction crew thought he was sleeping in this form that they had laid, and they were about to pour concrete in it.
19:35 And they were like, hey, there's a homeless guy over there sleeping.
19:38 And so they send their manager over there to, you know, ask him to move and turns out he's not breathing when I showed up, you know, looking at his body closer, his body temperature was, I believe 96 8.
19:54 And at that point, you know, I did notice that his skin was slipping, which is common.
20:00 And then when I looked at his back, he did have this cutaneous petechiae, that is, you know, another obvious sign of heat related death.
20:10 I just want everyone to stay hydrated.
20:13 I just felt the need after yesterday.
20:16 And of course, being in the heat myself y'all, when I'm out there on these scenes, it is hot and I start to feel bad sometimes and I'm like, oh, I feel so bad for people who are working outside and I know they have similar problems, you know, up north where it's cold all the time.
20:35 But it's no joke.
20:36 I think that when you start to feel bad, it's important to listen to what your body is trying to tell you and to do something to help yourself.
20:46 If you do start to feel bad when you're outside in this heat, it is bad.
20:51 I don't want to be bringing a lot of people in this summer because of heat related incidents, but I see it happening.
20:59 So I felt the need to maybe just educate a little bit and kind of let you know what the warning signs are so that when you notice them or when a friend complains of them, you can take action and you know what to do.
21:13 So anyway, y'all stay cool and I will see y'all next week.
21:18 Thank you so much for joining me today on Pushing Up Lilies.
21:22 If you like this podcast and would like to share with others, please do me a quick favor and leave a review on Apple podcast.
21:29 This helps to make the podcast more visible to the public.
21:32 Thanks again for spending your time with me and be sure to visit me at PushingUpLilies.com for merchandise and past episodes.