Tips on Preventing Heat Stroke this Summer
With temperatures expected to be near 90 today, many of us will be outside enjoying the summer sunshine, but too much sun and hot weather can be dangerous.
That means there’s the potential for people who are out in the sun to suffer from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
Dr. David Yates is the Chief Medical Officer for St. Mary’s Sacred Heart Hospital in Lavonia.
Yates offered WNEG News some tips on how to stay safe if you have to be out doors for any length of time in the sun and heat. First and foremost, Yates says it’s best to limit your outdoor activity.
“Physical activity increases heat production by the body, so one key thing to do is if you have to be active outside, you want to limit your activity, you don’t want to get close to exhausted,” said Yates. “You want to try to maintain your active periods at early morning and late evening when temperatures aren’t at their highest.”
Yates said it’s also very important to stay hydrated, but by that he means drink plenty of water and stay away from caffeinated drinks, like Coke or iced tea or iced coffee as well as alcoholic beverages like beer.
Additionally, he says the elderly or those on certain prescriptions, like high-blood pressure medicine need to take extra precautions.
“Many people are being treated for hypertension or for congestive heart failure where they’re actually being given diuretics purposefully to get rid of extra fluids,” said Yates. “Many elderly people who are on anti-hypertensives or strong diuretics need their dosage adjusted downwards because during heat periods can become hypotensive.”
Additionally, Yates said children’s play time outdoors should also be limited to the early morning and late evening hours because they can succumb to heat exhaustion or heat stroke more quickly than adults.
And if you don’t have air conditioning at home or you know of a relative or neighbor who doesn’t have AC, Dr. Yates said using fans to blow hot air around the house is not a good idea unless you take an extra step.
“Blowing hot air can worsen the tendency to heat up,” said Yates. “If you don’t have AC and you were using a fan, a great trick that helps to improve cooling is to put on loose fitting shirt and pants and actually wet the clothes with water and then get in front of the fan and the evaporation of the water has a cooling effect.”
Yates said the signs that you are getting overheated include, headache, nausea, confusion, dry mouth, rapid heartbeat and dizziness and a decrease in sweating. He said if you experience those symptoms or see them in someone else take immediate action.
“When you see that progression in anyone, the most important thing to do is get them out of the heat, get some fluids going, put them on some wet clothes and get air moving on them,” said Yates. “If they don’t perk back up very quickly, the best thing to do is to bring them into the emergency room.”
Yates said there, doctors use cooling blankets and IV fluids to cool a person down.