Track Tac

Don't let this happen to you!!!!!!

B

bodyman127

New member
Last Wed. I worked in my garage for several hours putting in some wiring. It was hot and muggy and I should of probably drank a little more water or gator aid. On the way back to the house I stopped at the go kart trailer to do a little work on one of the karts. The inside of the trailer was at least 20 degrese hotter and had been shut up tight for 4 days. the task I had to do was just a quick one so I did not open the trailer up. The fumes were very strong from tire prep and methanol. Well after about 10 min. in the trailer I was completely overtaken by the fumes and heat. It came on instantly. I stumbled out of the trailer to get to the shade and fresh air. In my altered state when trying to get into the house I tried to lay down on the back proch. That didn't work to well I did a header cutting my eyebrow and giving me a black eye. I layed there for about a 1/2 hr to 45min semi contious. I finally gained enough strength to crawl back into the house where I shock for 45 min in a state of shock. When my wife came home they rushed me to ER. They fixed my eye brow up and did some tests. I had some elevated enzyme levels indicatiting that I could of had a heart attack. So a transfer to another hospital and a catherasetion were performed. Lucky enough no heart attack but definatly stressed from the event. I don't know what the bills will be but I know its going to be costly. Please take this incident and learn from it, DO NOT go into your trailer and work on the karts without opening the doors even if its for a few mins,. It's dangerious and it could of been a lot worse.
 
Fantastic posting and all the readers are so happy you survived this. At my age, it would have killed me.

ALWAYs gentlemen, have a fan blowing when working on the kart, to exchange the air from the kart area to outside.
The various toxins, fumes, etc. emanating from kart gas, alky, tires, tire prep, lubricants, grease, etc. creates a deadly stew.

To ignore this, and just work, without a vigorous air exchange, is asking to die, or suffer permanent physical, brain damage.
(Wish I'd known that fact earlier in life) ;)
 
Im an auto body tech and I'm used to working around paint fumes and such but this took me out in a very short period of time. This stuff is tuff!! Please don't take the chance even for a few mins.
 
good lesson for everyone and I sincerely hope that you get better and that there are no lasting effects....
 
I personally think that the tire prep was the worst offender. I had two karts and another two sets of prepped tires in a closed trailer on 85 degree heat for 4 days. I really needed to open the doors for a period of time before I took apart a carb full of methanol. It took less than 10 min. By the time I realized that I was affected it was to late.
 
Thank the lord you is ok, thanks for the post also hope we all learn something from this .............
 
yes that did play a part. I'd been working in the garage up on ladders doing electrical work and only drank one bottle of water. Stupid!!!!
 
but this also exposes the dangers that prep can cause....remember that some of the stuff used isn't exactly healthy to be around. not making light of what happened and i'm glad your ok, but even if you close the bottles tight, the tires are still gassing out the prep in a hot and enclosed environment...gassing out is the same that paint does as it dries....and those same gasses can affect you!! i'm just happy that you are ok and living to race another day!
 
Last Summer I got heat stress/heat stroke type of issues. Muscle cramping in arms and legs and feeling Ill . I drank lot of Water Gatorade three day leading up to a Saturday Race. I had to have Kurt Burris drive my Kart . I could even undo my helmet after one practice & Qualifying. It was 103 before the race day started. This was fourth time this has happen to me. My Doctor has no answer as test show zero imbalances .
 
Four,
Wrestling a 450 or other UAS type powered kart can take most people's breath away on a nice day. 103* putts a hurtin' on most mortal men. ;)

nut,
Like you, I have been concerned about when you first open the door to your trailer (prep fumes, heat, etc.) We're probably all guilty of climbing in the side door of the trailer just to "quickly grab something (tools, parts, etc)" only to come out grasping for fresh air.

I had my entire family read about your experience this morning....Plenty of "air out" time is a must.
Thanks for sharing and glad that you are alright.

Blessings,
Brian Carlson & family
 
I'm so glad that the folks that have read this will take it to heart. If I didn't get out of the trailer and passed out inside I could have died or been badly brain damaged( some folk say its to late) It all came on way faster that I could of expected. By the time I realized what was going on it was to late.
 
FOURTOGO said:
Last Summer I got heat stress/heat stroke type of issues. Muscle cramping in arms and legs and feeling Ill . I drank lot of Water Gatorade three day leading up to a Saturday Race. I had to have Kurt Burris drive my Kart . I could even undo my helmet after one practice & Qualifying. It was 103 before the race day started. This was fourth time this has happen to me. My Doctor has no answer as test show zero imbalances .
Click to expand...

I have a cramping problem also, as per advise. I start using lots of Gatorade and Lite Salt .......could find it at Walmart .... still racing and not much cramping......
 
unfortunately, i'm diabetic and can't drink Gatorade or PowerAde because of the sugar content, but on hot days, i'm all for hydration and a little salt mixed in.....one thing that the doctor told me one time when I was asking about hydration is to cut up lemons and oranges and squeeze the juice into the water....adds flavor but it also helps with the cramping. because I race on an asphalt track the heat really hurts....I've taken the temps on the track just before race time at over 100+.....so sitting in the kart on the grid gets to you really quick....
 
Lake said:
I have a cramping problem also, as per advise. I start using lots of Gatorade and Lite Salt .......could find it at Walmart .... still racing and not much cramping......
Click to expand...

Good advice (though as mikey56 points out, it needs to be modified if you're diabetic); in addition to salt, light use of a potassium supplement (potassium is another electrolyte lost in heavy heat/humidity situations) is helpful. For me, leg cramping is usually the first sign that I'm getting behind, and lots of Gatorade (Gatorade G2 if you want to cut back some on sugar just for the calories) makes it go away.
 
or....if you like banana's!....have a banana before the races....they are high in potassium.....the idea is that if you feel like your dehydrated, then you are well on the way....you need to get water into you before you feel like that....heat stroke is nothing to mess with.....
 
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