Fall practice is starting. Heat does not wait for September.

August is when fall sports come back and when the country is still sitting in a heat wave. The NFHS has been blunt: late July and early August are historically the highest-risk window for heat illness and death in school sports. Coaches are supposed to have a written emergency action plan before the first whistle, not after the first cramp.

Heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heat stroke. The last one is a medical emergency. Cool first, then move. Ice, water, shade, and a phone that actually calls 911. Delaying because someone “looks like they can walk it off” is how a preventable call becomes a bad one.

From the EMS side the picture is the same physiology with worse logistics: a field, a parking lot, a parent who is already scared. High-quality CPR if they collapse. Rapid cooling if it is exertional heat stroke. Do not let the argument about “which hospital” eat the minutes that change the outcome.

If you coach, you need hydration rules that survive a hot Tuesday in western Pennsylvania, not a poster in the locker room. If you take patients, you need the same respect for the environment the athlete just trained in.

This is general education, not medical advice and not a standing order. Book a Heartsaver or First Aid date if your club or department wants the skill in more than one pair of hands.