Heat Illness and Fainting: Role-Play Scenarios

In groups of four, students act out cases of dizziness, fainting, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke during sports and apply the right response. Students learn to tell the warning signs apart and to prevent them with hydration and smart pacing.

How to play

1. Explanation (4 min): fainting (pale, cold sweat: lay down and raise the legs) versus heat stroke (hot skin, confusion: shade, cool down, call 911).
2. Groups of 4 with a mat and towels. Each group gets a scenario card that only the student playing the victim sees.
3. The victim acts out the signs for 1 minute; the rescuers ask questions, observe, and decide on the response out loud.
4. Apply the response (2 min): lay down with legs raised, move to an imaginary cool spot, pretend wet towels on the neck and armpits, or recovery position if unresponsive.
5. Rotate victim and scenario every 4 minutes (3 rounds); at the end each group suggests two prevention steps for a summer PE class.

Rules

• Safety: the victim only slumps from a seated position onto the mat, never from standing.
• Never give water to someone who is confused or unresponsive.
• Confusion or very high body temperature means calling 911.
• Rescuers say out loud what they are doing.

Variations

Adaptations

• Limited mobility: lead the group's response as coordinator.
• Students with autism: a card with signs and responses in picture symbols.
• Shy students: play rescuer or narrator instead of victim.

Learning goals

• Tell apart the signs of fainting, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
• Apply the right first aid response for each case.
• Suggest hydration and pacing strategies to prevent them.

Equipment for a class of 25

• scenario cards: 12
• mats: 7
• towels: 14

Teacher tip

Link the scenarios to real events, like a cross-country meet in late spring. Remind students that heat stroke is an emergency: you don't wait to see if it gets better.

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