Possible driver death due to heat

[Johney]

I work in this local (not in the same building) and area management has been instructed to deny it was heat related; they're claiming it was a cardiac stroke rather than heat stroke. The driver was a female in her 40's/50's. There's been nothing reported in the local news media as of Friday.

I heard about it from a driver before I went into work today -- it has been absolutely miserable in the south (record breaking heat) and we had 4+ people pass out in the hub last night. There's not many details yet, but hopefully they'll surface when/if any local papers start looking into it.

Possibly so. My only point is someone with that much experience driving, that's a lot of summers. I'm confident a driver with that many years has experienced overheating before.

Why she allowed herself to get to that point is the question. No manager or steward is worried more about their numbers than a driver dying.

I'm sure some around here will disagree with the bolded statement above too....

HMMMM.

 

[IVE GOTTA PACKAGE 4U]

She very well may have received a similar message.

Do we really need to be told to take a minute or two to cool off and get something to drink?

When your body is in the danger zone of overheating, you may not realize it.

 

[watdaflock?]

HMMMM.

What are you implying?

 

[10 point]

Possibly so. My only point is someone with that much experience driving, that's a lot of summers. I'm confident a driver with that many years has experienced overheating before.

Why she allowed herself to get to that point is the question. No manager or steward is worried more about their numbers than a driver dying.

I'm sure some around here like Indecisi0n will disagree with the bolded statement above too....

I don't disagree.
About management/steward statement I say:and more !

 

[watdaflock?]

When your body is in the danger zone of overheating, you may not realize it.

Only if you completely ignore all the obvious signs.

 

[Shifting Contents]

So you are comparing trained conditioned soldiers to ups workers? Not the same thing.

A driver from my home town is middle eastern and volunteered with the marines a few years back because he speaks a couple of middle eastern dialects.

When he was in training he was in Nevada during desert marches with full gear. Marine after marine was dropping out due to the heat. At one point he had two full rucks, and a marine on each arm trying to help them continue. When they asked him why the hell he hadn't dropped out he told them "this ain't nothin' I'm a ups driver in south florida."

We are very well acclimated to our local weather conditions

 

[Turdferguson]

Only if you completely ignore all the obvious signs.

It is easy to do. Hope you never find yourself in that situation.

 

[Indecisi0n]

A driver from my home town is middle eastern and volunteered with the marines a few years back because he speaks a couple of middle eastern dialects.

When he was in training he was in Nevada during desert marches with full gear. Marine after marine was dropping out due to the heat. At one point he had two full rucks, and a marine on each arm trying to help them continue. When they asked him why the hell he hadn't dropped out he told them "this ain't nothin' I'm a ups driver in south florida."

We are very well acclimated to our local weather conditions

If one guy can do it then everyone can do it. Are you management?

 

[watdaflock?]

A driver from my home town is middle eastern and volunteered with the marines a few years back because he speaks a couple of middle eastern dialects.

When he was in training he was in Nevada during desert marches with full gear. Marine after marine was dropping out due to the heat. At one point he had two full rucks, and a marine on each arm trying to help them continue. When they asked him why the hell he hadn't dropped out he told them "this ain't nothin' I'm a ups driver in south florida."

We are very well conditioned to our local weather conditions

Great post.

You become conditioned to the heat and humidity with years of experience, no doubt about it. That experience also means you can recognize when your core temperature is rising.

 

[watdaflock?]

It is easy to do. Hope you never find yourself in that situation.

As a former competitive distance runner I can tell you about my experiences of being very cold and no longer sweating.....even though it was 90+ degrees with 95% humidity. Not a fun final couple laps.

 

[Shifting Contents]

If one guy can do it then everyone can do it. Are you management?

No, was never even dumb enough to consider it like some people.

Experience is key.

It's not her fault.
It's not managements fault.
It's a sad tragedy.
It could have been prevented.
EDIT if it is just heat related it could have been prevented
There's more to it than just heat I'm sure. Maybe a contributing factor but not the sole factor.

 

[watdaflock?]

If one guy can do it then everyone can do it. Are you management?

I totally agree. Everyone should be able to recognize the signs of over heating, especially with many years experience,

 

[watdaflock?]

No, was never even dumb enough to consider it like some people.

Experience is key.

It's not her fault.
It's not managements fault.
It's a sad tragedy.
It could have been prevented.
There's more to it than just heat I'm sure. Maybe a contributing factor but not the sole factor.

Great post.

 

[thecamel]

Its this damned ORION! Loads are already very poor quality anyway, now we have to search ALL OVER the back of the package car for each stop. Because of some stupid ass algorithm or software. Give me a bre....... never mind Give me 25 more stops. Gotta be friend!@%ing kidding me.

 

[pickup]

Sorry I don't buy it. I grew up on a farm. Try baling hay in this heat for 12 hours.

Plus, these guys in full gear while in Iraq were able to hydrate.

Apparently, even with the ability to hydrate, they still had problems with heat stroke: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-08-07-iraq-heat-inside_x.htm

 

[watdaflock?]

Apparently, even with the ability to hydrate, they still had problems with heat stroke: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/world/iraq/2006-08-07-iraq-heat-inside_x.htm

I agree in a war zone soldiers would not have the same options in dealing with a life or death overheating situation as a UPS driver.

 

[Retiree]

Anyone that is in good health, eats properly, sleeps properly and hydrates properly, should have no issues with heat other than being uncomfortable. In my 37 years, employees that had heat issues were deficient in one or more of these areas or had a co-morbid medical condition.

 

[cosmo1]

So? What is your point? All those old folks should have studies in school more?
If she graduated HS in 77 she is probably late 50's at that. Someone that old with so much seniority should easily have recognized the signs of over heating and gotten their core temp down.

Next you'll tell us she should have been wearing proper footwear.

Go back to preload and leave the drivers alone. You have no idea and probably never will.

 

[PiedmontSteward]

Anyone that is in good health, eats properly, sleeps properly and hydrates properly, should have no issues with heat other than being uncomfortable. In my 37 years, employees that had heat issues were deficient in one or more of these areas or had a co-morbid medical condition.

It also looks like in 37 years you started following the company line of "blame the worker."

Shame on someone that has the life experience to know better.

 

[hellfire]

A lot of ignorance on here, especially the part timer that has fans blowing on him for his 3.5 hrs of torture. I'm a native of South Florida, when the bad beat starts its hard enough to do my weekend yardwork for 2 hrs without overheating, and that's stopping , and sitting in front fan when I need to. We have a job that does not allow us to stop and cool down whenever we feel the need.The ventilation in the trucks is pathetic, we wear dark brown, we work during the hottest part of the day, and with Orion spend more time than ever in the pc oven. Conditioning , hearing a lot of that. Should every driver sit in a sauna and do physical activities, in intervals ,to acclimate there body for summer heat? It's a lie to say our work environment and culture are not at fault.