How to prove relative dehydration in a 1500 worker population?

[croaker260]

Can you do urine dip sticks? Urine specific gravity is easy to obtain, correlates with dehydration and is a quantitative value that can be tracked and reported.

I was responsible for 100 employees at a large racetrack venue , we used the criteria of: If you don't have to pee at least once an hour then your are not consuming enough water.

Pretty much what I would have suggested. Specific gravity combined with a "Log" of reported bathroom breaks. I dont know if you can do volume assessment on that large of a population with limited resources...but a self reporting mechanism would be helpful.

[mikeymedic1984]

If urine is yellow you are dehydrated, if it is clear you are fine.

[HellsBells]

Gosh Mikey, what a flawless argument.

[Kaisu]

The only thing I can think of is skin turgor, which is totally subjective.

[Asysin2leads]

First thing I learned at Outward Bound, "clear and copious" in regards to urine and proper hydration. Dwayne, maybe you could make up a form with a quick questionnaire, such as average fluid intake, and then a spot for vitals, and finally a color chart to relate urine color to. If you pulled workers at random from the floor and did this testing over a month or so you should have some pretty good data.

[DwayneEMTP]

Yeah...it's a quandry...Pushing harder for the urine dips, but until that happens, which is probably never, then we'll have to use b/p, pulse rate, and reported symptoms.

Thanks for your help all...

[Eydawn]

Ok, I'm serious now. Can we pitch in and SEND you some of this stuff, or would that get you in trouble with the muckety-mucks? I would say dipsticks would be the way to go, as you would have objective data... I agree with the pulled random sample.

However! I would also ask, are you seeing more illness and poorer overall condition among the workers predisposing them to illness as a result of this relative dehydration? Or did you just get a bee in your bonnet to "fix" this? I'm curious as to whether it will actually make an impact, and if it's worth trying to push the culture change over...

Wendy

CO EMT-B

[rock_shoes]

However! I would also ask, are you seeing more illness and poorer overall condition among the workers predisposing them to illness as a result of this relative dehydration? Or did you just get a bee in your bonnet to "fix" this? I'm curious as to whether it will actually make an impact, and if it's worth trying to push the culture change over...

Wendy

CO EMT-B

Wendy, you're far enough along in your RN program by now to know that chronic dehydration is certain to have deleterious health effects. From what I've seen of Dwayne on the forums, I'm certain his drive to find a solution to this health conundrum is entirely derived from his desire to improve worker health and safety.

Dwayne I would suggest researching fluid intake requirements for mountaineering. You might find the research articles you need to back your argument and sway the powers that be.

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[Eydawn]

I'm sure it is, rock- not disputing that. However, there is something to be said for letting people live their lives the way they've decided to live them. You're fighting an entire culture here that thinks cold wind is a problem... how far is it worth taking as far as cost-to-benefit potential? (I'm talking emotional/psychological cost here, too... not just $$).

I'm looking at it from a comparative cultures perspective, where we don't necessarily have to be "right" as the developed world medics ALL the time. Just food for thought.

Wendy

CO RN-ADN Student

[rock_shoes]

Dwayne. How goes the battle on this one?

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