Dying of thirst

[Rye Miles #13621]

How come in the movies when someone finds someone dying of thirst in the dessert or wherever they give them a small swallow of water and say , “That’s enough”.?? Why is it bad to guzzle down water if you’re thirsty and haven’t had water for a long time. I can’t find anything about it. 

[Alpo]

If you have been without water for a long time, and then you drink a bunch of water, you're going to throw up.

 

Of course, if you've been without food for a long time, and you eat a bunch of food, you're going to throw up.

 

But in either of these cases - someone dying of thirst or someone starving to death - you give them a little bit, and let their body get used to having it again. Maybe give him a drink, and then don't let him have another swallow for 5 minutes. Or let him eat a slice of bread and then 10 minutes later let him have another piece of bread.

[Texas Maverick]

36 minutes ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

How come in the movies when someone finds someone dying of thirst in the dessert or wherever they give them a small swallow of water and say , “That’s enough”.?? Why is it bad to guzzle down water if you’re thirsty and haven’t had water for a long time. I can’t find anything about it. 

Stomach needs to be reacquainted to food or water slowly or it will expel it very fast.

 

https://www.dispatchhealth.com/blog/what-to-do-if-severely-dehydrated/

 

TM

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

If you recall Band of Brothers, when Easy Company liberated the concentration camp, they were admonished that feeding the starved inmates had to be done carefully.

[Alpo]

If you remember in The Stand, when Trashcan Man made it across the desert to Lost Wages, half dead from thirst, he saw a fountain and plunged his head in it and gulped water. Then he stood up, smiled, and puked it all back up. Then he drank again.

[Stump Water]

4 hours ago, Alpo said:

If you have been without water for a long time, and then you drink a bunch of water, you're going to throw up.

 

Of course, if you've been without food for a long time, and you eat a bunch of food, you're going to throw up.

 

But in either of these cases - someone dying of thirst or someone starving to death - you give them a little bit, and let their body get used to having it again. Maybe give him a drink, and then don't let him have another swallow for 5 minutes. Or let him eat a slice of bread and then 10 minutes later let him have another piece of bread.

 

I've been w/o food or water for three days (pancreatitis).  ^ is the truth. 

 

Except the "slice of bread part".   A crouton to start is good.

[watab kid]

its an adjustment thing , kinda like after the bachelor party , it just takes a bit of time 

 

 

everything in moderation 

[Texas Maverick]

11 hours ago, Stump Water said:

 

I've been w/o food or water for three days (pancreatitis).  ^ is the truth. 

 

Except the "slice of bread part".   A crouton to start is good.

or cracker with a sip of water or dip the cracker in the water before eating it.

 

TM

[Okie Sawbones, SASS #77381]

Hang on, Cooter, let me go get my IV bag of normal saline out my my saddlebags.

 

 

[Rye Miles #13621]

My sister almost passed out on the golf course and they immediately gave here some Gatorade. They said she was dehydrated . I don’t know how much but she drank it. 

[Texas Maverick]

2 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

My sister almost passed out on the golf course and they immediately gave here some Gatorade. They said she was dehydrated . I don’t know how much but she drank it. 

When I lived in Las Vegas they had ambulances at most of the golf courses. When I asked why they said the golfers didn't realize they were sweating so much playing golf because it evaporated so quickly and they would get dehydrated and pass out. So the ambulances were there to rehydrate the golfers.

 

I found it interesting watching the weather report in the evening because the temps were always around 10 to 15 degrees cooler on the listing than in real life. They said if people knew how hot it really was they wouldn't come. That was a very educational 5 years that I lived there. 

 

TM

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

4 hours ago, Rye Miles #13621 said:

My sister almost passed out on the golf course and they immediately gave here some Gatorade. They said she was dehydrated . I don’t know how much but she drank it. 

Dehydrated is a far cry from dying of thirst. You can dehydrate in a short, (hours) time. In that case, copious fluids are called for. Your body hasn't had time to get used to not being fed, so it's completely safe to let you have as much water, or Gatorade as needed to let you recover. I saw plenty of this in The Marines out at 29 Palms, among other places. You can very easily recover, but it DOES make you more prone to dehydration in the future. 

[John Barleycorn, SASS #76982]

How about these stupid hydration bars where hung over folks go for saline and vitamin IV’s. 

[Alpo]

An IV using saline? Seems like that would be a little salty for the system. Instead of salt and water, how about a little sugar and water? D5W? That's what they always used on Emergency, before they transported you to Rampart.