Heat, humidity require caution

After Lucas Barry was rushed to the hospital in Missouri Valley, Iowa, his temperature hit 107 degrees. When his kidneys started failing, doctors put him on a helicopter to Omaha.

The 17-year-old offensive lineman at Missouri Valley High School remembers running sprints at football camp Aug. 2. He doesn't remember much else.

Lucas woke up days later at Creighton University Medical Center lucky to be alive, a victim of heatstroke. With liver and kidney problems to recover from, he will not play football this season, his senior year.

With temperatures rising into dangerous territory this week, young athletes across the Midlands hit fields to practice for fall sports. But it isn't just student athletes who are vulnerable when the heat index climbs close to 120. Anyone working outside is at risk.

“Everyone should be careful in heat like this,” said Dr. Ron Sarno, emergency medical director for Alegent Health Midlands Hospital.

When the body gets too hot, it loses its ability to shed heat by sweating. The temperature of the body's inner core begins to rise, and heat-related illnesses develop.

The one common factor: Such people have overexposed themselves to heat or over-exercised for their age and physical condition.

“We don't lose heat as well from our bodies on days like these. So we need to be well hydrated, drinking before we get thirsty,” Sarno said. “If possible, avoid the midday heat and go out in the morning or later in the day. It's important to rehydrate with water and sports drinks if you're working or exercising.”

School districts are taking precautions. In the Omaha Public Schools, teams don't practice between 1 p.m. and 6 p.m., said Steve Eubanks, athletic director at Northwest High School.

“That's to just be prudent, to err on the side of the young student athlete, to make sure we get work done and practice but do it at a time when it is safer for the kids,” Eubanks said.

The Nebraska School Activities Association set guidelines last year to limit the risk of heat-related injury. Coaches are urged not to schedule two-a-day practices more than three days in a week and to give players at least three hours of recovery time between the practices.

The Iowa High School Activities Association set guidelines several years ago that limit two-a-day practices to the first week of the football practice season, but there is no limit on the number of practices during that first week.

“They could have eight 30-minute practices for the first week if they wanted,” said Todd Tharp, who administers football for the association. Most run two practices per day, he said.

Association officials sent an e-mail this week to remind Iowa's coaches and schools of the association's hot weather guidelines. Among them: Practice needs to stop if the heat index reaches 130 degrees Fahrenheit. The index is a combination of humidity and actual temperature.

“We tell 'em to use common sense,” Tharp said.

Players should not wear football helmets all the time, so they can stay cool. And water breaks should be frequent.

Tharp said the association doesn't determine when practices are held, but many coaches decide to hold practice early in the morning or in the evening as the heat breaks.

That's expected of coaches in the Millard school district, said spokeswoman Amy Friedman.

“And if necessary, we're holding practices indoors,” she said. “We're all aware of it. We're watching the weather reports and taking the proper precautions.”

Football players aren't the only ones who need to stay hydrated during these hot summer days. Marching band students spend hours on the field. Their directors are advised on proper hydration and the importance of water breaks.

The consequences of heat can be deadly.

In the case of Lucas Barry, after days in a medically-induced coma, he was discharged from the hospital Friday. He will be a manager for the Missouri Valley football team this year while his body recovers.

“Hopefully it will be a learning experience for coaches and the other players,” said his mother, Marsha Barry.

“This heat is serious,” she said. “You never now when it will hurt someone.”

World-Herald staff writer Nancy Gaarder contributed to this report.

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