“If you see anyone who shows any signs of heat stroke, the immediate steps should be to call 911 and try to get that patient to the hospital,” Dr. Bangash said. Noting “while waiting on paramedics, do not hesitate to initiate first aid, and try to get the person to an air-conditioned environment or at least to a cool, shady area and remove any unnecessary clothing.”

“Rapid and effective cooling is a cornerstone of treatment,” he emphasized. “So, if you can, use a fan, ice packs, cold water, air conditioning, or whatever you can to bring the body temperature down as quickly as possible and as fast as possible until first responders arrive to take over care.

“As soon as you start seeing early signs, which are very high body temperatures, dry skin, any kind of neurologic symptoms, confusion or something as simple as a headache, that should alert you to a possibility of heat stroke,” Dr. Bangash said. “Those patients need to get emergency medical attention quickly.”

“Unfortunately, the longer the body temperature stays high, the higher the risk of complications,” he said. That is why it is important to try “to reduce the body temperature as soon and as fast as you can. Despite normalization of core temperature with cooling, many patients can still display complications which include multi-organ dysfunction such as injury to the gut, kidneys, skeletal muscle and other organ systems.”