Extreme heat ahead: How to beat the heat
COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – Beginning this weekend, heat indices in the triple digits, and you’ll need to be prepared, especially if you’ve got outdoor plans.
Certain parts of our area are already under a heat advisory.
Columbus Fire and Rescue Battalion Chief Chip Kain knows firsthand how dangerous extreme heat can be.
When he was younger, he was working outside in the summer heat without water.
“The next morning, I woke up nauseous, aching, and cramping,” Kain said. “I still went to work thinking that was what I was supposed to do, and I came home sick. Within a couple of hours, my dad came home and ended up rushing me to the hospital, where they put in about three or four bags of IV fluid. It was definitely an experience I don’t want to repeat. And once you’ve had heat exhaustion, you’re that much more apt to get it quicker. So if you have it, you know what to look for. You need to go ahead and stop and prepare ahead of time.”
Captain Shannon Murphy said heat exhaustion and heat stroke can come from high body temperatures, and can cause sweating, nausea, vomiting, and dizziness.
“The biggest difference between heat exhaustion versus heat stroke is that your body actually will quit sweating because it’s pretty much out of water, to help basically help your body cool itself off,” Murphy said.
Murphy says if you feel like you’re experiencing heat exhaustion or heat stroke, get to a cooler area. Fans and ice will help, along with drinking electrolytes.
“Worst case scenario, if you do know somebody that you need to get their body temperature cooled down quickly, you can always take a tarp and pour ice water inside that tarp and make a little pool for them to lie in,” Murphy said.
Factors like medications and pre-existing medical conditions can make you more prone to heat exhaustion.
Devi Moon, Family Nurse Practitioner at Allegro Family Clinic, said factors vary from person to person, including their hydration level and medical conditions.
She says children and the elderly are more at risk.
“You want to keep some type of water sippy cup up, preferably with some ice in it to be cooler, hats, and shade, lots of ways to take cover,” Moon said. “You don’t want direct sunlight. In our younger babies, we want to be cautious with too much sunscreen due to their temperature regulation. So it’s better to keep them with like long sleeves that are for outside SPF safe type things like that.”
If you know you’ll be outside for longer periods of time, start prepping the day before.
So, what can you do to prepare?
“You get rid of the southern water of coke and sweet tea and swap over to a true water mixed in with some electrolytes like a Gatorade, Powerade, Body Armor or something like that to start preparing ahead of time,” Kain said.
“If you know you’re going to be outside for that long to take breaks, stay hydrated and try not to just sit in the sun for extended periods of time,” Moon said. “Try to be in the shade as much as possible, and hopefully with fans as well, blowing to keep that air circulating.”
If you get in a situation where you are to the point of needing more help, get to a hospital to get checked out.
For people who work outside it’s suggested to wear lightweight, breathable clothing, wide-brim hats, and cooling rags.
