Dehydration - A Re-hydration Formula

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What is Dehydration?

Most of us can be dehydrated on a daily basis. We just don’t drink enough water….and the Diet Coke doesn't count! Water is essential to good health. Dehydration can occur when the total fluid loss is just 5%!

Signs of Dehydration

Mild to moderate dehydration is likely to cause:

• Dry sticky mouth
• Sleepiness or tiredness — children are likely to be less active than usual
• Thirst
• Decreased urine output — fewer than six wet diapers a day for infants and eight hours or more without urination for older children and teens
• Few or no tears when crying
• Muscle weakness
• Headache
• Dizziness or lightheadedness

Severe dehydration, a medical emergency, can cause:

• Extreme thirst
• Extreme fussiness or sleepiness in infants and children; irritability and confusion in adults
• Very dry mouth, skin and mucous membranes
• Lack of sweating
• Little or no urination — any urine that is produced will be dark yellow or amber
• Sunken eyes
• Shriveled and dry skin that lacks elasticity and doesn't "bounce back" when pinched into a fold
• In infants, sunken fontanels — the soft spots on the top of a baby's head
• Low blood pressure
• Rapid heartbeat
• Fever
• In the most serious cases, delirium or unconsciousness.

Unfortunately, thirst isn't always a reliable gauge of the body's need for water, especially in children and older adults. A better barometer is the color of your urine: Clear or light-colored urine means you're well hydrated, whereas a dark yellow or amber color usually signals dehydration.MayoClinic

What to do if someone is showing symptoms:

Immediately start getting fluids down the person. In hospitals they use solutions to replace lost fluids. You can use a formula that is similar for reducing the severity of dehydration by having present in a solution the salts that are lost during a sickness which include a fever, diarrhea or vomiting which would deplete the body of necessary fluids to keep hydrated. It is dangerous to be dehydrated to the point of symptoms occurring, especially in children.

Prevention is the best way to handle dehydration!

It would be wise to have the formulas put together, (or at least have the supplies) on hand and use it during the illness, especially if no help is available. Just getting small sips down the person to PREVENT dehydration would be better than trying to fix it. These usually have salt in them to replace salts lost and balance electrolytes. The salts in the solution allow the cells to more readily absorb fluids.

If someone has two or more of the signs of dehydration, it is important to restore fluids as soon as possible. A simple oral dehydration solution can be made by mixing the following ingredients and putting in separate bags them in a first aid kit for immediate use when needed.

REHYDRATION FORMULA

• ¼ tsp real salt
• ¼ tsp no salt (potassium chloride)
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 ½ tsp sugar

Mix into 4 cups of water. Give the person small sips of the solution every five minutes, even if he vomits, until he begins to urinate normally. The drink can be given with fruit juices as a flavoring.

The person may also drink thin vegetable soup, or the water in which rice or barley has been cooked.

(Lana said that we need to use all four items in this rehydration formula to balance our electrolytes. She got this formula from a nurse at the LDS hospital.)

-Taken from “Emergencies! And How to Prepare for Them” by Lana Richardson, pp. 19-22