OT Heat Exaustion and Keeping Cool

June 28, 2007

With these high temps, I thought this was timely. See Heat Exaustion

symptoms below. If you are worried about running your AC at least run it

on 78 or so, to help prevent this. Yesterday we were down in Mobile, AL at

Zorbo's, a Greek Restaurant. Their AC wasn't working and before we left, I

thought I was going to pass out. We should of gotten our food to go and

eaten it in the AC of our vehicle. I don't know how they were working in

those temps. It had to be at least 90 degrees in there. The man working

there even said he had a hard time keeping folks that wanted to work. Wow,

I wonder why. In this part of the country we run our AC about 7-8 months

out of the year, just like you folks in colder temps run your heat several

months of the year. We rarely have to use our heat more than a couple of

months out of the year and then not every day.

Life can't stop because of high temps, so AC is a must in this part of the

world. Run it cooler earlier in the morning and get the house cooler so

that later in the day, when the electric company is having more of a strain

on the system, your AC doesn't have to work as hard. Run your washing

machine, dryer(or hang outside, I have an umbrella clothesline that doesn't

draw a lot of attention to it), your dishwasher during the night or first

thing in the morning to help the electric companies. Use ceiling fans and

turn up your AC temp when you are out of your home. Close your blinds and

curtains too.

If you don't have AC at least go to a place that does for several hours a

day to cool down your internal body temp. Take cold showers and stand in

front of a fan too cool off while still damp. Drink lots of water.

Heat exhaustion is a milder form of heat-related illness that can

develop after several days of exposure to high temperatures and

inadequate or unbalanced replacement of fluids. Those most prone to

heat exhaustion are elderly people, people with high blood pressure,

and people working or exercising in a hot environment.

Recognizing Heat Exhaustion

Warning signs of heat exhaustion include:

heavy sweating

paleness

muscle cramps

tiredness

weakness

dizziness

headache

nausea or vomiting

fainting

The skin may be cool and moist. The victim's pulse rate will be fast

and weak, and breathing will be fast and shallow. If heat exhaustion

is untreated, it may progress to heat stroke. Seek medical attention

immediately if:

symptoms are severe, or

the victim has heart problems or high blood pressure.

Otherwise, help the victim to cool off, and seek medical attention if

symptoms worsen or last longer than 1 hour.

What to Do

Cooling measures that may be effective include:

cool, non-alcoholic beverages, as directed by your physician

rest

cool shower, bath, or sponge bath

an air-conditioned environment

Lightweight clothing

Keep safe,

Judy

June 28, 2007

Judy,

I also want to add that it is so important to drink water not coffee, tea,

soda or drinks with caffeine but water in hot temps. If you are working in hot

conditions gardening, construction and you can't do it in the morning for every

hour in the heat you should have a cup of water. Also your body loses potassium

and salt through sweat so it is vital to drink Gatorade or something with

electrolytes. I had a bad experience just last weekend. My husband and I went

camping on Burton Island. It was cool so the walking, canoeing was comfortable

but when I returned home I was dizzy, nauseous, blurred vision. I drank lots of

water but the hours of walking caught up to me as soon as I drank 1 cup of

Gatorade I was fine. So I would add that people take care of themselves even on

days where it feels comfortable.

Steph

Building a website is a piece of cake.

Small Business gives you all the tools to get online.

June 28, 2007

I just cannot even imagine what this must be like, Judy. Here in

Scotland we are having the most wretched summer - it's more like

November than June. Today the forecast low is 5C (41F) and the high is

15C (55F). As May and June are usually our warmest months I don't hold

out much hope for the rest of the summer. I have turned my heating down

but have not been able to turn it off this year at all so my electicity

bills will be massive and we have had the wettest June since records

began. Last night I had to get out the hot water bottles because I was

so cold and I'm eating bowlfuls of piping hot soup to try to warm up.

Contemplating knitting myself a pair of fingerless gloves to keep my

hands warm as I type, LOL - brrrrrrr.

Christie in chilly Edinburgh

June 28, 2007

Oh boy is it cold for the summer there in Scotland. BRRR. I wish we could

send you some of our heat. It will be about 95 here today with a heat index of

over 100. It's already 85 here @ 9:30a.m.

Chrisie aren't you glad you can adjust your thermostat as the temps dictate

throughout the year. My in-laws lived in a senior village, during their last

years. The complex dictated when the heat came on in the winter and when the

AC started up in the summer. Once one was on, they couldn't use the other.

They often got cold temps early in the fall, but the heat wasn't turned on until

October. They lived in Toronto, Canada. As with most older folks they got

chilly very easily. I felt so bad for them, that they couldn't have it warm

when they needed it.

In our first apartment as a married couple, their system worked the same

way........ Here in the southeast US, the temps vary so much in the spring

and fall, that you might have cool temps one day and blazing hot the next.

Here's some hot air, blown all the way to Scottland from the United

States.........

We have had a severe drought here, until the last week and a half. We are so

thankful for the 8 inches or so of rain that we have gotten. It is the greenest

everywhere that I have seen in such a long time. Just beautiful.

Judy

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christie_0131

Thursday, June 28, 2007 8:51 AM

Re: OT Heat Exaustion and Keeping Cool