It’s like a sauna out here.
For the past several weeks, it’s been almost painful to step out of an air conditioned area into southern Michigan’s great outdoors. Mainly, it’s because it’s been so hot and humid, you almost expect yourself to start melting like the Wicked Witch of the West. With this sweltering heat, being in the outdoors for more than a couple minutes is torturous, with the occasional breeze being the only relief.
And these conditions are only expected to continue through this coming weekend. Temperatures are expected to hit the 90s on the 23rd and 24th, with heat indices pushing those numbers up even higher, possibly into triple digits.
With heat like this naturally comes all of those heat-related illnesses, which include heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. There are many symptoms to look for when trying to determine if someone is suffering from one of these illnesses, and experts are encouraging people to be on alert and to look carefully for those symptoms. Their hope is that if someone starts showing signs of a heat-related illness, that someone who knows what to look for can diagnose it right away and prevent any more damage than what’s already been done.
First, it’s best to know which symptoms to look for if you suspect someone is suffering from a heat-related illness. These include fatigue, nausea, headache, excessive thirst, weakness, dizziness and fainting, as well as a rapid or weakened heartbeat, flushed or dry skin, and a shortness or quickness of breath. Any of these illnesses can be sudden and very dangerous, and it is encouraged that as soon as someone is showing signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, they need to get medical care as soon as possible.
Heat exhaustion and heat stroke occur when your body’s thermoregulatory system gets overworked and starts to fail. The human body only has four ways to cool itself: conduction, convection, radiation and evaporation. When the air around you gets to higher temperatures than your skin temperature, however, those options are decreased to only one, evaporation. For a little while, this can do the trick, but this puts a strain on the body’s fluid supply, which is limited to what you have in you as it is. Your muscles, heart and skin are all fighting for the limited amount of fluid you have, and naturally, no one is going to be able to get the amount of fluid they need to work properly. Keeping this problem up for an extended period of time can do severe damage, to where after enough time your body will simply start to shut down, often damaging cells and internal organs along the way.
All this sounds quite painful, and the best idea experts recommend is to try and prevent all of this from happening in the first place. OSHA (the Occupational Safety and Health Administration) has created many laws that protect employees from being in workplaces with known safety hazards. They have created standards that employers must follow to keep their employees safe, and these standards are also great to think about when preventing heat-related illnesses.
To keep the heat problems at bay, the obvious thing to do is to stay in shade and have plenty of water. Staying hydrated is the most important and easiest way to prevent heat-related illnesses from striking, and staying out of the sun can help the sweat evaporation process to work tremendously. It is also encouraged that in whatever you’re doing outside, whether it’s actually working or simply playing around, to take frequent breaks. Giving your body the opportunity to relax its cooling process, even for only a few minutes, can help your body so much. It’s also important to acclimate yourself to the heat over time. Eventually, your body will understand that working in the heat is different than working in air conditioning, and will learn which combination of fluid dispersal is best for your body. It needs time to have some trial and error, though, so this process typically takes seven to ten days, if not longer.
All this isn’t to discourage being outside, because while this is hot weather, it’s still beautiful. Knowing when your body has had enough and needs a break, however, is vitally important.
So have fun, but get your water in too. Because fainting isn’t fun.
And it kinda hurts when you fall.
Just a little.
