Fainting after just 10 minutes in 60C is too fast.
BTW, most likely reason your friend spent time in ambulance and hospital is because your employer wanted to be on the safe side, not because your friend really needed it.
I'm reasonably sure the air temp wasn't 140F in the data center, but, he had Heat Stroke or Hyperthermia. He did collapse and I remember calling for help on the radio when I saw him go down. In the space of about 10 seconds when he said he was feeling weak, he went from looking flushed to pale as a ghost and bam, he was on the ground. He was wheeled off in a stretcher and I remember sitting in the back of the ambulance with him. After 30 minutes, he was still not feeling well and reluctantly accepted the hospital visit.
He and I were business partners and this was one of our management contracts. It was ultimately his decision with my strong recommendation to go to the hospital since he was still weak. The paramedics offered ten more minutes on site, but, he opted for the hospital.
We were young and dumb, now I'm not so young. Faced with the same situation today, I doubt I would do it again and I certainly wouldn't force an employee to do it.
I'm glad you replied to the comment. Heat exhaustion (leading to heatstroke) is serious stuff.
It really happens - even to young people at their peak condition. In dry climates, with mildly hot weather around 90-93 F.
Perhaps I'm stating the obvious, but awareness makes a big difference in these situations. It doesn't hurt to have a little EMT / Paramedic training too.
Are you actually claiming that the GP is lying? He's an eye witness, was instrumental in getting his buddy out. I'm pretty sure that if he felt his friend didn't need to be in the ambulance he would have omitted the bit about him passing out.
Not lying. Most likely some relevant details are unintentionally omitted. It could be that his buddy had poor health or was too overweight. Or may be was quite stressed out even before going into that hot facility. Or stayed there longer than 10 minutes. Or the temperature was higher. Or the air was slightly toxic (that's actually my best guess). Or all of the above.
But 10 minutes exposure to 60C dry air is not nearly enough for fainting.
Anyone that's been in a sauna can verify this. High humidity humidity feels hotter. You can demonstrate this by throwing water onto the sauna heater - the sauna will instantly feel a lot hotter.
In fairness, that's not the whole story. When I sauna, I'm not doing anything remotely strenuous. I'm sitting around naked and not feeling the slightest stress. These guys were working in an emergency situation - clothed - and doing physical labor.
Yet it did have that effect. Unless you're claiming the parent is lying? Or are you suggesting it's merely an unlikely event? The fact is people have all kinds of physical issues they might not even be aware of and you can't take that chance with people - not for legal reasons, not for ethical reasons. The best you can do is prepare in advance by training people in the situation to detect if they have any issues with the environment.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sauna
You had only 60C (140F).
Fainting after just 10 minutes in 60C is too fast.
BTW, most likely reason your friend spent time in ambulance and hospital is because your employer wanted to be on the safe side, not because your friend really needed it.