It is hard to drink too much water but the condition of out running your electrolyte balance is very possible. In fact a recent article stated that this is the number one condition for heat related emergencies which required medical intervention at the Grand Canyon last year. Powerade and Gatorade do not have enough sodium for many hot hiking situations. 99% of the time at Philmont the Gatorade will do the job and I keep a packet in my first aid kit for those situations. However I also carrying salt pills for those days which really take the body - hard climbs in hot weather.
If you keep to the backpackers rule of getting your hike done by noon, keep the slowest hiker out front and adhere to the "clear and copious" guideline your crew should not have a problem. Avoid getting activities scheduled in the morning which my force your crew to hike in the afternoon esp. later in the season when afternoon thunderstorms are common and add additional risk to your hike.
Signs your crew is dehydrated:
Fatigue
Stomach
>From: Mike Bingley
>Reply-To: philmont@troop47.com
>To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
>Subject: Re: [Philmont]: Too much water?
>Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 11:02:02 -0600
>
>This was discussed at some length last summer (about this time of year, I
>might add). I think the final outcome of the discussion was that if you
>drink more than 12 liters of water in a day you're in trouble (something
>about the body not being able to get rid of all that water).
>
>So - drink lots of water whenever you're outside. If it gets so hot that
>you're approaching the 12 liter mark, stop, find shade and stop exercising.
>
>I am by no means an expert on this, as I pointed out when this discussion
>was going on last summer - I have a degree in history, not biochemistry, but
>it seems to me that not hiking when it gets too hot to hike is good advice
>in any case.
>
>Cheers
>
>Mike
>--
>mbingley@scouts.ca
>Mike Bingley
>Council Field Executive
>Scouts Canada - Chinook Council
>403-327-4647
>888-321-4647 (Alberta and BC)
>Experience High Adventure in the Canadian Rockies with Scouts Canada
>http://www.chinook.scouts.ca/impeesa-x/
>
>
> > From: "BSA"
> > Reply-To: philmont@troop47.com
> > Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2003 10:29:41 -0600
> > To: Multiple recipients of list philmont
> > Subject: Re: [Philmont]: Too much water?
> >
> > There was a study done to study hyponatraemic encephalopathy in the grand
> > canyon. The results were quite alarming. However the Wilderness Medical
> > Society investigated the study and found it to be full of holes. The WMS
> > still believes that although hyponatraemic encephalopathy is possible, it
> > is extremely rare. They believe it is impossible to do when exercising as
> > you are losing so much water. If you are suffering from hyponatraemic
> > encephalopathy you are also not urinating usually. Hyponatraemic
> > encephalopathy leaves you conscious, heat stroke, dehydration leave you
> > unconscious. Too much water take a leak. Not enough, evacuation if you are
> > still alive. After thousands of hours in the desert I have never seen a
> > case of hyponatraemic encephalopathy, I have seen dozens of cases of
> > dehydration.
> >
> > Jim
> >
> > James H. Moss
> >
> > JHMoss@earthlink.net
> > 303-807-2275
> >
> > PO Box 16743
> > Golden CO 80402
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Chris Summers"
> > To: "Multiple recipients of list philmont"
> > Sent: Monday, August 25, 2003 10:13 AM
> > Subject: [Philmont]: Too much water?
> >
> >
> >> Everyone who hikes at Philmont or attends PTC is told to drink water
> > often;
> >> we all know the term "clear and copious!" But I read an interesting
> > article
> >> in the London Times last week quoting an article in the British Medical
> >> Journal by a Professor Timothy Noakes of the University of Cape Town,
> > South
> >> Africa.
> >>
> >> Professor Noakes wrote that the advice that athletes should replace all
> > the
> >> liquids they loose through sweating while exercising, either by drinking
> > as
> >> they can tolerate or by drinking somewhere between one and two pints per
> >> hour may be dangerous. His research notes that there have been 7 recorded
> >> deaths and over 250 cases of hyponatraemic encephalopathy in athletes,
> >> soldiers and hikers who were advised to drink as much as possible while
> >> exercising. This is a potentially fatal condition caused by a severe lack
> > of
> >> salt in the blood due to excessive flushing of the system with water.
> >>
> >> Here is a link for anyone interested.
> >> http://bmj.com/cgi/content/full/327/7407/113
> >>
> >>
> >> Chris Summers
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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> >
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> >
> >
> >
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> > cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
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>As you gather around this virtual campfire with fellow
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>loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient,
>cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.
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Received on Thu Aug 28 15:56:56 2003