Risk Management Magazine

As a National Guard CH-47 company, we are always subject to possible call-up for state and national emergencies or deployments overseas. When Hurricane Gustav hit the Gulf Coast, we found ourselves being called on like never before.

Military training in the heat impairs physical performance and can lead to the development of heat-related illnesses, which impact over 2,500 uniformed personnel each year. Heat illnesses range in severity from heat exhaustion (least severe) to exertional heat stroke (EHS) (most severe).

Ask anyone who regularly pulls a trailer and they will have at least one story about it coming off its hitch, pushing them through a busy intersection, losing its brakes or suddenly getting blown into another lane of traffic. Most of these stories have a humorous side and an uneventful ending. For inexperienced drivers, however, some of these events end in disaster.