Excessive heat causes more heat related illnesses - MSNewsNow.com - Jackson, MS

Excessive heat causes more heat related illnesses

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning through Thursday. That means it's dangerously hot outside. Heat related illnesses like heat exhaustion and heat stroke are common when the temps peak like they are.     

The thermometer peaked above eighty degrees before 7:00 A.M. Wednesday morning. But there was a little breeze in the air, and James Henley says early mornings are the best time to get an outdoor workout in. Henley says, "once it's 8 or 9 o'clock it's too hot to be out here."

This streak of heat and humidity we're experiencing can be extremely deadly. Henley knows that all too well because his brother-in-law passed away from a heat stroke. "Even though he went home and drank a lot of fluids during that lunchtime hour about a couple hours later he never woke up," says Henley.

 Jim Pollard with AMR says as the heat rises, the number of heat related calls goes up significantly. So far, Pollard knows of one person locally who's died because of heat stroke.

Pollard says, "heat stroke is known by hot dry skin and elevated internal body temperature the skin will sometimes be red or mottled." If you think you're experiencing heat stroke, the first thing you need to do is call 911. You're advised to get out of the heat, and apply cool cloths over your body. Also, use fans to cool off.

When it's hot and humid it's important to drink lots of water. If you don't have any salt restrictions you can add one teaspoon of salt to every quart of water you drink and that can help your body stay even more hydrated.

Pollard says, "you need the sport drink or the water because the body looses minerals in addition to the water, potassium, chloride, sodium, magnesium."

 Since his brother in-laws death, Henley says he's even more cautious about staying safe in the heat."We need to do things to keep ourselves healthy and one of those things is drinking 8-10 glasses of water a day on average" says Henley.

 Seniors need to be particularly careful in the heat. If you're a senior citizen and need a cool place to go during the day, call the City of Jackson's Department of Human and Cultural Services at 601-960-0335.

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