Thank you for writing and sharing this. It helps me assuage my feelings of guilt/inadequacy that I wasn’t able to affect the outcome.

Thank you for your question. There are in fact two different forms of heat stroke. Let’s take a look at what heat stroke is again and then let’s look at how credible M.D.’s describe the two.

Background

“Heat illness may be viewed as a continuum of illnesses relating to the body’s inability to cope with heat. It includes minor illnesses, such as heat edema, heat rash (ie, prickly heat), heat cramps, and tetany, as well as heat syncope and heat exhaustion. Heatstroke is the most severe form of the heat-related illnesses and is defined as a body temperature higher than 41.1°C (106°F) associated with neurologic dysfunction.”

Dr. Helman and Dr. Habal describe the two different forms of heat stroke this way:

“Two forms of heatstroke exist. Exertional heatstroke (EHS) generally occurs in young individuals who engage in strenuous physical activity for a prolonged period of time in a hot environment. Classic nonexertional heatstroke (NEHS) more commonly affects sedentary elderly individuals, persons who are chronically ill, and very young persons. Classic NEHS occurs during environmental heat waves and is more common in areas that have not experienced a heat wave in many years. Both types of heatstroke are associated with a high morbidity and mortality, especially when therapy is delayed.”
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/166320-overview

I hope this was helpful and thank you for the questions.

Best wishes,

Roy Shaw, EMT-P
RoyOnRescue.com
royonrescue@gmail.com