As the summer months continue, high temperatures kill hundreds of people every year.
Heat-related deaths and illness are preventable, yet more than 700 people die from extreme heat every year in the United States, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Community members are encouraged to take measures to stay cool, stay hydrated, and stay informed.
Getting too hot can make people sick. Anyone can become ill from the heat if the body can not compensate for it and properly cool off.
The main things affecting the body’s ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather are: High humidity, when the humidity is high, sweat won’t evaporate as quickly. This keeps the body from releasing heat as fast as it may need to; and Personal factors such as age, obesity, fever, dehydration, heart disease, mental illness, poor circulation, sunburn, and prescription drug and alcohol use all can play a role in whether a person can cool off enough in very hot weather.
Those who are at highest risk include people 65-years-of-age and older, children younger than two-years-of-age, and people with chronic diseases or mental illness.
Individuals are encouraged to closely monitor people who depend on someone for their care and ask these questions: Are they drinking enough water? Do they have access to air conditioning? Do they need help keeping cool?
People at greatest risk for heat-related illness can take the following protective actions to prevent illness or death:
Stay in air-conditioned buildings as much as possible; Air-conditioning is the number one way to protect ones self against heat-related illness and death. If s home is not airconditioned, reduce the risk for heat-related illness by spending time in public facilities that are airconditioned and using air conditioning in vehicles; Contact a local health department or locate an airconditioned shelter in the area; Do not rely on a fan as a main cooling device during an extreme heat event;
Drink more water than usual and don’t wait until becoming thirsty to drink; Check on a friend or neighbor and have someone; Limit use of the stove and oven as it will make individuals and house hotter.
Even young and healthy people can get sick from the heat if they participate in strenuous physical activities during hot weather: Limit outdoor activity, especially midday when the sun is hottest; Pace activity and start activities slowly and pick up the pace gradually; Drink more water than usual and don’t wait until becoming thirsty to drink more. Muscle cramping may be an early sign of heat-related illness.
Wear loose, lightweight, lightcolored clothing.
If someone is playing a sport that practices during hot weather, protect one’s self and look out for teammates Schedule workouts and practices earlier or later in the day when the temperature is cooler.
Monitor a teammate’s condition and have someone do the same for everyone.
Seek medical care right away if a teammate has symptoms of heat-related illness.
Everyone should take steps to prevent heat-related illnesses, injuries, and death during hot weather.
Never leave children or pets in cars. Never leave infants or children in a parked car, even if the windows are open. Dress infants and children in loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing. Check the local news for health and safety updates.
Make sure they are drinking plenty of fluids. Stay away from really cold drinks or drinks with too much sugar.
Even when it feels cool outside, cars can heat up to dangerous temperatures very quickly. Leaving a window open is not enough; temperatures inside the car can rise almost 20 degrees Fahrenheit within the first 10 minutes, even with a window cracked open.
Children who are left unattended in parked cars are at greatest risk for heat stroke, and possibly death.
When leaving a car, check to be sure everyone is out of the car. Do not overlook any children who have fallen asleep in the car.
Signs of heat stroke include high body temperature of 103 degrees or higher; hot, red, dry or damp skin; fast, strong pulse, headache, dizziness, nausea, confusion and loss of consciousness.
To remedy those symptoms, individuals can call 911 right away as a heat stroke is a medical emergency, move the person to a cooler place, help lower the person’s temperature with cool clothes or a coll bath and do not give a person anything to drink.
In regard to heat exhaustion, symptoms include: heavy sweating, cold, pale and clammy hands, fast or weak pulse, nausea or vomiting, muscle cramps, tiredness or weakness, dizziness, headache and fainting.
Individuals can combat heat exhaustion by moving to a cool place, loosen clothes, put cool, wet cloths on the body or take a cool bath and sip water. People are encouraged to seek medical attention if throwing up, symptoms get worse or they last longer than one hour.
Heat cramps may happen if an individual is sweating heavily during intense exercise and muscle pain or spasms may be apparent.
To remedy those symptoms, stop physical activity and move to a cool place, drink water or a sports drink, wait for cramps to go away before doing any more physical activity. Medical attention may be needed if the crams last longer than an hour, on a low-sodium diet or have heart problems.
Being in the sun with intense heat may result in sunburn which can be identified if an area of the body is painful, red, has warm skin or there are blisters on the skin.
In turn, stay out of the sun until the sunburn heals, put cool cloths on sunburned areas or take a cool bath, put moisturizing lotion on sunburned areas and do not break blisters.
Heat rash can be identified by red clusters of small blisters that look like pimples on the skin. Heat rash usually occurs on areas of the body such as neck, chest, groin or in elbow creases.
Individuals are encouraged to stay in a cool, dry place, keep the rash dry and use powder such as baby powder to sooth the rash.
The state of Texas is currently under an excessive heat watch with temperatures ranging from 100 degrees and higher according to the National Integrated Heat Health Information System.