Hot Weather Injuries & VA Disability: What Veterans Need to Know

Extreme heat isn’t just uncomfortable—it can be dangerous, especially for veterans who served in hot climates or during physically demanding deployments. In this episode, we break down how hot weather-related injuries like heat stroke, heat exhaustion, dehydration, and rhabdomyolysis can lead to lasting health conditions—and how they may qualify for VA disability compensation.

We also explore the connection between heat injuries and other service-connected conditions such as kidney damage, cardiovascular issues, and chronic fatigue. If you've experienced heat-related trauma in service or now suffer from long-term effects, this episode explains how to build a strong claim and what documentation the VA looks for.

📌 Topics Covered:

• Common hot weather injuries experienced by service members
• How the VA evaluates heat-related conditions for disability ratings
• Chronic effects of heat stroke and rhabdomyolysis
• Linking kidney, heart, and muscle issues to heat exposure
• What medical evidence strengthens your VA claim
• Tips for navigating VA C&P exams for heat-related conditions
• How to file a secondary service connection for related issues
• How climate and location can factor into your VA case

VA claim heat stroke, hot weather injuries VA disability, heat exhaustion military service, rhabdomyolysis VA claim, dehydration VA compensation, heat injury veterans, service-connected heat illness, VA disability rating heat injury, chronic fatigue VA claim, kidney damage military service, hot weather VA conditions

📣 Resources Mentioned:

• VA Disability Benefits for Environmental and Occupational Exposure
• [Military Medicine: Heat-Related Illness and Long-Term Impact Studies]
• How to Prepare for a VA C&P Exam

🎧 Listen Now:

If you've served in extreme heat or suffered from heat-related injuries during your military service, this episode is packed with the essential info you need to protect your health and claim the benefits you deserve.

👉 Don’t forget to subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with a fellow veteran who may need it!

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Episode Transcript

Leah Bucholz (00:01):
Hey guys, it's Leah B here from Prestige
Veteran Medical Consulting. I ama US Army veteran, physician
assistant, and formercompensation and pension
examiner. So today's topic isgoing to be beating the heat,
hot weather injuries, and VAdisability. So we talk about a
lot of different disabilities,one thing that we haven't
touched on is weather relatedissues. So both cold weather and

(00:24):
hot weather related injuries Iwanna talk about over the next
several weeks.
And we're gonna start off withthe hot weather side today. So
for those of you who have notbeen to our YouTube channel or
to our podcast before, we liketo break down veterans health
related benefits and your rightsin plain no nonsense language.
And again, I am your host, LeahB. And today we're diving into

(00:45):
the topic that doesn't getenough spotlight. And so hot
weather injuries and how theycan connect to VA disability
benefits.
So if you have served in a hotclimate, dealt with heat
exhaustion or have ongoinghealth issues from your time in
uniform, this episode is foryou. So let's get into it. So
understanding heat injuries ingeneral. When we talk about

(01:05):
military injuries, most peoplethink about combat wounds, bad
knees or bad back. But let metell you heat injuries are
serious and far more common thanyou might think.
So we're talking about thingslike heat exhaustion, heat
stroke, heat cramps, that'spretty common, right? That's
probably the most common.Hyponatremia, that's from
drinking too much water anddiluting your sodium.

(01:27):
Rhabdomyolysis, a breakdown ofyour muscle that can damage your
kidneys. I saw that a ton onactive duty.
And heat intolerance where yourbody just can't regulate
temperature to the way it usedto. So these aren't just
temporary problems. They canlead to chronic health issues.
And in many cases they'reeligible for VA disability
compensation. So serviceconnection, can you get VA

(01:50):
disability for heat injuries?
So how do you actually get theVA to recognize a heat injury?
There's a three part sort oftest for service connection. We
talk about it all the time. Youneed a current medical
diagnosis. So what does thatmean?
So you're not gonna have heatcramps for your entire life or a

(02:11):
heat stroke for your entirelife. You may have residuals of
that whether you've got chronickidney damage, you have a
pancreas injury, you've got abrain injury, something that
resulted from that exposure,okay? So you need a current
medical diagnosis, whatever thatis. You need proof of an in

(02:32):
service events like collapsingduring a field exercise or being
treated for a heat stroke. Youneed a nexus which is an opinion
linking your current conditionto that in service event.
So we've got a three kind ofpronged way for things to get
service connected. So it'shaving a current medical
diagnosis for whatever thecondition is, an in service

(02:55):
event and a nexus or a linkbetween those two things. And so
we talk about nexus a lot andwhen we talk about nexus, what
does that mean? So again, it's alink between number one and
number two. So that in serviceevent and that current
diagnosis.
Now how can that nexus bedeveloped? So you can have a
nexus from the C and P examiner,right? When you go, when you

(03:16):
file a VA disability claim,you're gonna go to a C and P
exam. That C and P examiner atno cost to you is gonna provide
an opinion on the relationshipbetween your service and that
injury or illness. It may not bea favorable one, but they're
going to provide some type ofopinion, okay?
You can also ask your treatingdoctor. You can ask any

(03:36):
healthcare provider that you goand see. You can hire a medical
expert like myself or anotherperson that's used to dealing
with VA claims or legal relatedmatters to review the records
and provide an opinion based ona thorough review of your
records. Okay, so those are kindof like the ins and outs of any
VA related disability. So let'ssay you passed out during a

(04:00):
training at Fort Hood, you gottreated for a heat stroke and
now you can't be out in the sunfor more than ten minutes
without getting dizzy.
That might be something worthfiling, right? Depending on if
it's related and it's beenconsistent. So what are some
challenges? So challenges withVA claims and heat injuries.
Heat injuries are oftenunderreported.

(04:21):
Maybe you didn't go to sickcall, maybe your unit pushed you
through it. Now years lateryou're struggling but there's
nothing in your records. Thatdoesn't mean you're out of luck.
This is where buddy statementscan come in hand. Personal
accounts and even familyobservations can help you
support your claim.
Lay evidence matters often andif symptoms didn't start until
after you got out, that's okay.What matters is showing the

(04:43):
connection. It's not alwaysblack and white. And yes, you
can reopen a denied claim withnew evidence or a strong medical
opinion. Often working with alegal professional like an
accredited claims agent, aveteran, a VSO or an attorney,
they can look at those thingswith you and help guide you and
help you with a strategy togetting your issues service

(05:03):
connected if you've been deniedin the past.
So what does the VA look for? Sowhen the VA evaluates your
claim, they're looking for a fewthings. They're looking at
things like how often yoursymptoms happen, the frequency,
right? How they impact yourdaily life and work. Whether
there's organ damage like toyour kidneys, your heart, your

(05:24):
pancreas like I said, you had abrain injury.
Whether you can safely work inhot environments. If you've got
chronic fatigue linked to thatheat injury you might be rated
anywhere from ten to sixtypercent. If you can't tolerate
heat at all and you can't workbecause of it you might qualify
for TDIU or total disabilitybased on individual
unemployability. So what is theresearch there? I always like to

(05:47):
talk about research and give youguys some literature that you
can look up or maybe talk toyour doctor about and show them
and see if they can help supportyour claim.
So some literature on heatinjuries in veterans. Let's talk
about the science and researchbecause yes, there is solid data
backing that up. So I'm gonnapull some of this up here. So
the army public health data. Sothe army's annual report showed

(06:11):
thousands of heat injuries everyyear.
Most happened between May andSeptember during training or
deployment. In 2022 alone, overfifteen hundred cases of heat
illness were reported and that'sjust what was documented. So
military medicine journal in2018, one study found that
service members who sufferedheat stroke were more likely to
deal with kidney problems,chronic fatigue and even

(06:33):
cognitive issues long term. SoVA and DoD guidelines. There are
now clinical practice guidelinesfor treating exertional heat
illness and they openly statethat heat stroke can cause
lasting disability especiallywhen it impacts your body's
ability to regulate temperature.
Rhabdomyolysis in militarypopulations. Another study in

(06:53):
2020 looked at rhabdo cases inmilitary training and found a
high correlation between heatexertion and long term kidney
damage which is by the way aserious condition that can
absolutely be rated by the VA.So yes, this is real, it's
documented and it's time we talkabout it more in the veteran
community. So what can you do?So if you think your heat injury

(07:15):
or your symptoms today arelinked to your service, you can
talk to your doctor, get adiagnosis who takes care of you
and who takes your concernsseriously.
Talk to them about the illnessto see if they think it's
related. You can request yourmilitary records especially
anything showing duty in hotenvironments. You can write a
personal statement about whathappened, how it affects you
now. You can get anybodystatements like we discussed

(07:39):
previously. You can work with aBSO from the DAB, BFW, American
Legion or a good accreditedattorney or agent can make all
the difference.
And remember that you don't haveto do this alone. You serve and
these benefits are available foryou. So hot weather injuries
aren't just temporaryinconvenience. They're a real

(08:00):
risk and they can have a longterm impact on your health and
livelihood. So if you've beenliving with fatigue, kidney
issues, heat intolerance,whatever it may be and you think
it's tied back to your service,it's time for you to take the
next step.
Get evaluated, ask for help. SoI hope this was helpful to you
guys. I don't know if I wouldlove to see how many of you guys

(08:21):
chime in and say that you had aheat injury because like I said,
I remember being a medic and aPA having to treat them, having
to put ice sheets on people, allkinds of stuff, especially at my
time in the 100 And First. Iknow Fort Campbell isn't super
hot area but with all thataerosol school and all that
rough marching, we had hotweather injuries all the time.

(08:42):
Right?
So I hope this was helpful toyou guys. Please drop some
comments, please like andsubscribe and look forward to
that cold weather injury videowe've got coming up. Alright.
See you guys later.