TEMPERATURES WILL climb into the 30s Centigrade (high 80s Fahrenheit) this month in Somalia. Military physicians are cautioning US troops there that "effects of the hot environment in this area are worsened by high humidity, making the heat significant even for the indigenous people."
That reminder is found in Staying Healthy in Somalia: Preliminary Recommendations, a pocket-sized booklet swiftly prepared by the Preventive Medicine Consultants Division, Office of the Surgeon General of the US Army, for use as Operation Provide Hope got under way (JAMA. 1993;269:11-12).
At least two other booklets have been prepared just as promptly.
One is Sustaining Soldier Health and Performance in Somalia: Guidance for Small Unit Leaders, prepared by the US Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, Natick, Mass, and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC, for the Army Medical Research and Development Command, Fort Detrick, Md. The other is Operation Restore Hope: Health