Emergency Online

Extreme Heat

Heat puts your health at risk. To know more about heat, click here.

• Install window air conditioners snugly; insulate if necessary.
• Install temporary window reflectors (for use between windows and drapes), such as aluminum foil-covered cardboard, to reflect heat back outside.
• Weather-strip doors and sills to keep cool air in.
• Cover windows that receive morning or afternoon sun.
• Stay indoors as much as possible and limit exposure to the sun.
• Stay on the lowest floor out of the sunshine if air conditioning is not available.
• Consider spending the warmest part of the day in public buildings such as libraries, schools, movie theaters, shopping malls, and other community facilities. Circulating air can cool the body by increasing the perspiration rate of evaporation.
• Eat well-balanced, light, and regular meals. Avoid using salt tablets unless directed to do so by a physician.
• Drink plenty of water. Persons who have epilepsy or heart, kidney, or liver disease; are on fluid-restricted diets; or have a problem with fluid retention should consult a doctor before increasing liquid intake.
• Limit intake of alcoholic beverages.
• Dress in loose-fitting, lightweight, and light-colored clothes that cover as much skin as possible.
• Protect face and head with a hat
  
• Never leave children or pets alone in closed vehicles.
• Avoid strenuous work during the warmest part of the day. 
• Take a bath
  

• Heat rash  or prickly heat.  It occurs when skin's sweat ducts become blocked and swell causing discomfort and itching.
• Heat cramps
• Heat Edema or swelling in the legs and hands. This happens when you sit or stand for a long time in a hot environment.
• Heat Tetany (hyperventilation and heat stress), which is usually caused by short periods of stress in a hot environment.
• Heat syncope (fainting), which occurs from low blood pressure when heat causes the blood vessels to expand (dilate) and body fluids move into the legs because of gravity.
• Heat exhaustion (heat prostration). This happens when you work or exercise in hot weather and not drinking enough fluid to replace fluids lost.
• Heatstroke (sunstroke), which occurs when the body fails to regulate its own temperature and body temperature continues to rise, often to 105°F (40.6°C) or higher. Heatstroke is a medical emergency. Even with immediate treatment, it can be life-threatening or cause serious long-term problems.