Ahead Of A Hot Weekend, Some Tips On Staying Safe

With high temps reaching the upper 80's thru mid-90's this weekend, the National Center for Environmental Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offer up some hot weather safety tips and things to keep in mind.

Learn about heat-related illness and how to stay cool and safe in hot weather.

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.

Personal factors such as age, obesity, fever, dehydration, heart disease, mental illness, poor circulation, sunburn, and prescription drug and alcohol use all can play a role in whether a person can cool off enough in very hot weather.

Those who are at highest risk include people 65 and older, children younger than two, and people with chronic diseases or mental illness.

Closely monitor people who depend on you for their care and ask these questions:

• Are they drinking enough water?
• Do they have access to air conditioning?
• Do they need help keeping cool?

In extreme heat, you can take some precautions.

• Stay in air-conditioned buildings as much as you can.
• Do not rely on a fan as your main cooling device during an extreme heat event.
• Drink more water than usual and don’t wait until you’re thirsty to drink.
• Check on a friend or neighbor and have someone do the same for you.
• Don’t use the stove or oven to cook—it will make you and your house hotter.

And that's just(if you'll pardon the expression) the tip of the iceberg, folks. Find out a whole lot more information on ways to keep yourself and your family safe and cool during hot, hot, HOT! summer days at the CDC's website here.

Thanks for keeping us informed.