The tips that follow are from American Red Cross and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Follow these helpful tips to take precautions against heat related incidents or illnesses.
Here are some prevention tips:
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, approximately 400 Americans die each year due to summer’s sweltering heat. Furthermore, the National Weather Service asserts that excessive heat was the number one weather-related killer, causing more fatalities per year than floods, lightning, tornadoes, hurricanes, winter storms and extreme cold from 1994 to 2003.
If you must be out in the heat:
Everyone is at risk when temperatures rise above 90 degrees but the elderly and the very young are most susceptible to heat and heat-related illnesses. Heat-related illnesses can cause serious injury and even death if unattended. Signs of heat-related illnesses include nausea, dizziness, flushed or pale skin, heavy sweating and headaches. Victims of heat-related illness should be moved to a cool place, given cool water to drink and ice packs or cool wet cloths should be applied to the skin. If a victim refuses water, vomits or loses consciousness, call 911 or your local emergency number immediately.
View the CDC’s Extreme Heat: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety for additional details to keep yourself and your family safe in extreme heat.
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