Heat Stress Countermeasures Published June 15, 2010 By Lt. Col. Walther W. Koelln 94th Safety Office DOBBINS AIR RESERVE BASE, Ga. -- Temperatures and heat indexes are climbing into stages three and four on the Heat Flag Diagram. On Monday, there were Yellow Flag conditions in the morning and Red Flag conditions in the afternoon. Please use caution when working or exercising outdoors. Here is a recap of Heat stress countermeasures: Stage Flag Activity Work Rest 3 Yellow Non-acclimated 35mins 25mins Acclimated 45mins 15mins 4 Red Non-acclimated 20mins 40mins Acclimated 30mins 30mins 5 Black Both 20mins 40mins The key to supervising safe activities outdoors for stage 3 and above is judgment and discretion. Curtail or terminate physical conditioning, intense activity, and outdoors work details for Stages 3 & 4 as appropriate and terminate all physical conditioning and non-essential outdoor work details and activities in Stage 5 (Black Flag). If personnel must be outdoors during stages 3, 4 and 5, ensure they are adhering to the work-rest cycles and drinking plenty of fluids. For more information, tables and charts, please refer to Air Force Pamphlet 48-151, Thermal Injury at http://www.e-publishing.af.mil/shared/media/epubs/AFPAM48-151.pdf
