HOT - AND THE 501ST FSB DOC SAYS SO

In Baghdad, peak temperatures have exceeded 115 degrees for 10 of the past 11 days. “It’s like standing in a blow dryer,” Sgt. David Harris of the 1st Armored Division said between sips from a water bottle as he guarded the Health Ministry.

The relentless heat has become more than a nuisance to the tens of thousands of U.S. troops posted in Iraq. Of the 79 Americans who have died in Iraq of causes unrelated to combat since May 1, at least two — and perhaps as many as five — have succumbed to the heat, according to defense officials.

The most recent such incident occurred Tuesday, when a soldier with the 4th Infantry Division died in his sleep from what commanders described as heat stress, which has been defined as a condition in which the total net heat load on the body from internal heat production and external sources exceeds the body’s capacity to cool itself...

Maj. Michael Pelzner, the senior physician with the 501st Forward Support Battalion, counsels soldiers and commanders on preventing injuries from the heat, as well as from hostile fire.

“It’s something everybody needs to have in the back of their mind,” said Pelzner, who runs a one-room trauma clinic at the site of the former Iraqi police academy. “It has to be part of the mission.”

Pelzner said soldiers are often so focused on their duties that they pay little or no attention to their health. “Often the young guys are so gung ho, they want to complete the mission, they often don’t take the time to drink water,” he said.

Then again, the heat was the main topic of conversation at Mule Skinner Base, where soldiers of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment stood guard at a former military college.

Sgt. Scott Anderson, 42, of Fort Collins, Colo., whipped open his flak jacket and fatigues to show a soaked undershirt. Four months ago, before his stint in Iraq, he weighed 185 pounds. He said he now checks in at 170.

“You always look like you’ve come out of the pool,” he said.