Tag Archives: heat-related illnesses

Today is Heatstroke Prevention Day

Summer is about to reach its peak, but temperatures are still soaring. Take the time to protect yourself and your loved ones from extreme heat. Today is Heatstroke Prevention Day. Do you know the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke?

Follow these tips from Ready.gov for protecting yourself in extreme heat:

Find air conditioning.
Avoid strenuous activities.
Watch for heat illness.
Wear light clothing.
Check on family members and neighbors.
Drink plenty of fluids.
Watch for heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.
Never leave people or pets in a closed car.

Did you know that 21 young children have died in hot cars so far in 2019? A child’s body overheats 3-5 times faster than an adult body. Make sure your child is never left alone in a car. If you see a child alone in a vehicle, get involved. Call 911 immediately. If the child seems hot or sick, try to get them out of the vehicle as soon as possible. For more car safety tips for children, visit www.kidsandcars.org.

For more information about heat related illnesses, visit https://scdhec.gov/heat-related-illnesses.

Take Extra Steps To Keep Children Safe In The Heat

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During these hot days, it’s important to be sure that you keep children cool and hydrated. And NEVER leave them in a parked car, even if the windows are open.

Here are some important tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on keeping children hydrated and protected during these hot days.

Dress infants and children in loose, lightweight, light-colored clothing.
Make sure they’re drinking plenty of fluids. Stay away from really cold drinks or drinks with too much sugar.
Children who are left unattended in parked cars are at greatest risk for heat stroke, and possibly death.
Even when it feels cool outside, cars can heat up to dangerous temperatures very quickly.
To remind yourself that a child is in the car, keep a stuffed animal in the car seat. When the child is buckled in, place the stuffed animal in the front with the driver.
When leaving your car, check to be sure everyone is out of the car. Do not overlook any children who have fallen asleep in the car.
Seek medical care immediately if your child has symptoms of heat-related illness.

Visit the CDC’s website for additional tips on how to prevent heat-related illness.

From Other Blogs: Keeping cool in hot weather, avoiding uninvited guests at summer outings, using trauma-informed care to inform emergency preparedness and response

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A collection of health and environmental posts from other governmental blogs.

Keep Your Cool in Hot Weather

Now is the time to prepare for the high temperatures that kill hundreds of people every year. Extreme heat causes more than 600 deaths each year. Heat-related deaths and illness are preventable, yet many people still die from extreme heat every year.

Take measures to stay cool, remain hydrated, and keep informed. Getting too hot can make you sick. You can become ill from the heat if your body can’t compensate for it and properly cool you off. The main things affecting your body’s ability to cool itself during extremely hot weather are … — From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Your Health – Your Environment blog

How to Avoid Uninvited Guests at Your Summer Outing

In the summertime, as the weather begins to heat up, our microscopic friends, called bacteria, begin to make uninvited appearances at our cookouts, picnics and even camping trips. Sometimes these little friends can be helpful, but other times, they just make you sick.

Bacteria will grow anywhere they have access to nutrients and water. Microorganisms that cause disease are called pathogens. When certain pathogens enter the food supply, they can cause foodborne illness. – From the US Department of Agriculture blog

Using trauma-informed care to guide emergency preparedness and response

Exposure to a traumatic event or set of circumstances can negatively affect a person’s mental, physical, social, emotional or spiritual well-being for a long time after the initial incident. We know that not all individuals respond to trauma in the same way and we know that individuals with a history of trauma, especially childhood trauma, are more likely to experience psychological distress and are at increased risk for the development of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) with future exposure to trauma. – From the CDC’s Public Health Matters blog

Take steps to avoid heat-related illnesses

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Summer won’t officially make its appearance this year until June 21, but it is already hot. With the National Weather Service predicting temperatures in the mid- to upper-90s in some parts of the state — and even triple digits in the Midlands — this week, DHEC urges you to take precautions.

Whether you are out exercising or simply traveling to the grocery store to shop, take steps to protect yourself and others from possible heat-related illnesses. It’s not safe to leave a person in a parked car in warm or hot weather, even if the windows are cracked or the car is in shade. Children’s body temperatures warm at a rate three to five times faster than an adult’s.

What can be done to prevent heat-related illnesses?

Heat-related deaths are preventable. The best answer is to stay in an air-conditioned area. When you can’t do that, consider these tips:

Drink lots of water. If you are doing an outdoors activity, drink two to four glasses of at least 16 ounces of cool fluids every hour. Don’t drink liquids that contain caffeine, alcohol or large amounts of sugar, these actually cause you to lose body fluid.
Avoid strenuous activity.
Take frequent cool showers or baths.
Wear lightweight, light-colored clothes.
Limit sun exposure.
Never, ever, leave children or pets in a parked car. Having any person or pet in a car in the summer months without air conditioning is like putting them in an oven.

Learn more

Visit the DHEC website for more information on heat-related illnesses. You can also get useful prevention tips from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.