Hydrated holiday — tips on avoiding heat exhaustion, stroke ahead of 4th of July

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — Ahead of the 4th of July holiday, physicians with Prisma Health want to remind the community to stay safe during extreme temperatures.

Emergency Physician, Dr. Steve Shelton, says as temperatures rise, your body’s ability to cool itself by sweating becomes less effective – and heat injuries are much more likely to occur, beginning with heat exhaustion.

“Folks will start to feel bad. They’ll be excessive sweating, cool clammy skin, nauseating, a headache, generalized fatigue, or weakness are some of those first symptoms they should recognize,” says Dr. Shelton.

If no action is taken to cool off, heat exhaustion can progress to a heat stroke.

“At that point, the body stops sweating, stops trying to cool itself. The skin becomes very hot and dry in addition folks can become unconscious or have seizures, and so anyone who develops an altered mental status, or not acting right is having a heat stroke,” he says.

If this occurs, 911 should be called immediately.

He says the best way to prevent these illnesses from occurring is to take note of the following:

• Avoid the heat altogether — or choose the coolest times to be outdoors.
• If you must be outdoors, stay hydrated throughout the entire day by drinking plenty of water or sports drinks, and by avoiding energy drinks and alcohol
• Check on the elderly or anyone without working air-conditioning (Once temperatures reach into the 90’s, Dr. Shelton says fans become much less effective)
• Seek shade and take breaks often when outdoors

“A simple rule that we often apply is urination. Make sure that you’re urinating frequently and that urine should be either clear or very light yellow. If it reaches apple juice color, you are definitely dehydrated at that point, and you need to start trying to catch up and cool yourself,” he says.