(Spirit Lake)– Healthcare providers are urging everyone to take some extra precautions with the heatwave that’s in the forecast for the weekend and through next week. Chris Yungbluth, paramedic and Ambulance Supervisor with Lakes Regional Healthcare tells KUOO news everyone needs to know about the danger of heat exhaustion and heat stroke and what to look for…
“Heat exhaustion is where your body is still able to recover from the heat, and heat stroke means that you’ve exceeded what your body is able to cool yourself down in. So essentially with heat stroke, the simplest way to put it is you’ve run out of water. You’re dehydrated and you’re not able to cool your own body when it gets to the heat stroke level.”
Yungbluth says at that point it’s time to call 911…
“At a minimum it’s going to require getting them out of the heat, most likely visiting a medical professional or calling for an ambulance to take care of you. If it’s to the heat stroke level, most of the time it’s probably going to require some I-V fluid replenishment and getting them out of the environment.”
Yungbluth says there are a number of preventative measures we should take. They include wearing light weight, loose fitting clothing; wearing a hat or having an umbrella or other source of shade; wear sunscreen; drink plenty of water and sports drinks while avoiding caffeine; limit your time outdoors to the early morning or later in the evening; and take frequent breaks if you must be outside in the heat. Yungbluth says the heat can catch up with you quicker than you think…
“Sometimes we get going outdoors or we’re out on the boat having a good time and it just kind of catches up to us. We see that a lot when we’re responding either for the rescue or ambulance side of it. We see a lot of folks who have been out on the lake for a long time and just didn’t realize that the sun was catching up with them and the heat was catching up with them and then they get into trouble with that.”
And Yungbluth says we should keep a close eye on the vulnerable…
“The very young and the very old are much more susceptible to heat stroke, heat injuries. So yeah, because of medications that they take or just because the young aren’t able to, their bodies aren’t quite set up yet to be able to respond to that heat as well as the middle aged folks. And so it’s always a good idea to keep an eye on both of those groups.”
He also reminds everyone to never leave a child or pet in a vehicle.
