Cramps, heat rashes, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, and just a general sense of “Man, it’s hot!” come with the hotter summer weather, and they can all be hard to deal with because the danger signs don’t always seem readily apparent.
Thankfully, preventative steps can be taken, and they all start with water.
1. Water Is Your Friend
The first word in beating summer heat? Water. Specifically, drinking water throughout the day.
It’s a basic step, but it frequently gets ignored during the hotter seasons. The key to mastering water in the fight against summer heat rests with frequency. Don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink water. You just come into an air-conditioned building after driving for half an hour? Drink some water. You been working at a desk while enjoying that afternoon cup of coffee? Remember to have some water after you put the coffee down. Really feeling thirsty? You should have been drinking water before that happened, so go get some.
And remember to keep a water bottle or refillable water jug handy. Thanks to the ongoing coronavirus challenges, one water challenge for summer 2021 could be access to drinking fountains.
2. Get Under Cover
During the Deepwater Horizon oil disaster in 2010, workers spent months going up and down Panama City Beach cleaning up the mess. The secret to keeping the workers safe from the punishing heat? Mandatory rest canopies set up every hundred yards along the beach. The workers would clean the beach area for 20 minutes and then head for the closest canopy, where they would spend the rest of an hour resting in the shade.
The takeaway? Shade remains the second-best weapon against the heat, right behind frequent drinks of water.
In addition to drinking water often, head for the shade every chance you get. This applies to everyone, whether they work on a road construction crew or just stepped out of the office for lunch. If you start feeling the heat, find some shade and stay there as long as you can. Remember also that some shaded areas only provides some relief from the heat but could still leave an individual exposed to the sunlight, especially if the shade comes from a porous fabric.
3. Indoor Considerations
Don’t make the mistake of thinking that being indoors alone guarantees safety from the heat. Anyone that’s ever been in a building when the air conditioning stops working knows full well how bad the situation can get.
If you find yourself indoors, try not to use hot cooking devices more than needed, as the heat from an oven or stove can make the air inside the house warmer, thus exposing everyone inside to heat dangers. If you’re still not sure about going back to the gym, try to exercise early in the morning before the sun really gets going. Take a cold bath or shower to help lower body temperature. You can also make use of inflatable pools, but keep them in shaded outdoor areas.
And don’t be afraid to blast the air conditioning if you need it. Just keep an eye on the equipment. A summer without air conditioning can be dangerous.