The Houston Department of Health and Human
Services (HDHHS) recommends residents begin taking precautions
against high temperatures to avoid heat-related illnesses.
High body temperatures can lead to damage to
the brain or other vital organs and even death.
HDHHS recommends that the elderly, a population
especially vulnerable to high temperatures, ask relatives, friends
or neighbors to visit them regularly during the approaching hot
months and check on them for signs of heat exhaustion or heat
stroke. It takes the aged nearly twice the time of younger people
to return to core body temperature after exposure to extreme
temperatures.
Others who are particularly vulnerable include
infants and children up to four years of age, those who are
overweight and people with heart and respiratory problems.
Heat exhaustion, usually associated with heavy
activity, is the body’s response to an excessive loss of water and
salt contained in sweat. Signs include profuse sweating, paleness,
muscle cramps, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting,
a weak-but-rapid pulse and fainting. The skin may be cool and
moist. If heat exhaustion is untreated, it may progress to heat
stroke.
Heat stroke occurs when the body’s temperature
rises rapidly, the sweating system fails and the body is unable to
cool down. Body temperature may rise to 106°F or higher within 10
to 15 minutes. Heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability
if emergency treatment is not given.
Heat stroke symptoms include an extremely high
body temperature (above 103°F, orally), red, hot and dry skin (no
sweating), rapid and strong pulse, throbbing headache, dizziness,
nausea, confusion and unconsciousness.
Staying indoors, preferably in an
air-conditioned home or building such as a library, shopping mall
or multi-service center, is the best protection against the heat.
Electric fans may provide comfort, but when the temperature is in
the high 90s, fans without refrigerated air only spur the movement
of hot humid air, which will accelerate body heating and raise
internal body temperature. Taking a cool shower or bath or moving
to an air-conditioned place is a much better way to cool off.
To avoid heat-related illness:
• Increase water consumption. Drink lots of
liquids even before getting thirsty, but avoid those with
caffeine, alcohol or large amounts of sugar because these can
actually result in the loss of body fluid.
• Conduct outdoor work or exercise in the
early morning or evening when it is cooler. Outdoor workers
should drink plenty of water or electrolyte-replacement
beverages and take frequent breaks in the shade or in an
air-conditioned facility. Those unaccustomed to working or
exercising in a hot environment need to start slowly and
gradually increase heat exposure over several weeks.
• Wear light-colored, loose fitting clothing
that permits the evaporation of perspiration.
• Do not leave children, senior citizens or
pets unattended in a vehicle.
• A wide-brimmed hat helps prevent sunburn
as well as heat-related illness. Sunscreen also protects from
the sun’s harmful rays and reduces the risk of sunburn.
• If the house is not air-conditioned, seek
accommodations in air-conditioned facilities during the heat
of the day: malls, movie theaters, libraries, multi-service
centers, etc.
• Take frequent cool baths or showers.
• Never leave a person or a pet inside a
closed, parked car during hot weather.
• Stay alert to heat advisories. The
National Weather Service declares a Heat Emergency when the
heat index, a computation of the air temperature and humidity,
reaches 108 degrees on two or more consecutive days. A heat
index of 108 is a potential health threat for all people and
is particularly dangerous for high-risk groups.
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