Extreme Heat Safety
With increasing temperatures, it is important to ensure you and those around you are keeping cool, safe, and healthy. Heat waves are not only physically dangerous to older adults, but according to a recent systematic review and meta-analysis from the University of Adelaide School of Public Health, mental health symptoms are also linked to heat increases. (Environmental International, Vol. 153, 2021)
What can seniors do to stay safe during a heat wave?
Below you will find a list of resources that can help a senior navigating the extreme heat that Edmonton is currently facing.
Link: Red Cross - Heat Waves: Before, During and After
Highlights:
- Find out where you can go to get cool such as public libraries, malls, and municipal cooling centers.
- Drink plenty of cool fluids, even if you don’t feel thirsty, and check in with children and seniors to make sure they are drinking regularly.
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol because they can cause dehydration, which stops your body from controlling its temperature properly.
- Take frequent breaks in a cool or shady area and use a buddy system if you need to be outside when it's hot.
Link: Government of Canada - Get Prepared: Heat Waves
Highlights:
Common symptoms and treatment of hot weather illnesses:
Heat Cramps
Symptoms include sharp pains in the muscles caused by salt imbalance resulting from the failure to replace salt lost with excessive sweat.
Treatment: Move person to cool, shaded area to rest, and apply firm pressure to cramping muscles. Give person two glasses of salty water (mix 5 milliliters of salt to 1 liter of water) at 10 to 15 minute intervals between each glass if cramps persist.
Heat Exhaustion
Symptoms include heavy sweating, weakness, dizziness, headache, diarrhea, muscle cramps, cold and clammy skin, low blood pressure, disorientation and possible vomiting. These are caused by excessive loss of water and salt.
Treatment: Move patient to cool area to rest, provide salty water, and cover person if shivering. The person should rest in bed until recovered. Seek medical attention immediately.
Heat Stroke
Symptoms include a core body temperature greater than 40ºC, complete or partial loss of consciousness, reduced cognitive function and cessation of sweating (hot and dry skin), dilated pupils, and elevated blood pressure. Skin may be flushed at first, later ashen or purplish.
Treatment: Heat stroke is very serious. Call 911 immediately and while waiting for the ambulance, move the person to a cool place and sponge body with cool water while letting the water evaporate to reduce body temperature.
Link: Government of Alberta - Extreme Heat Preparedness
Highlights:
- Eat hydrating foods such as fruits and fresh vegetables.
- Install curtains, blinds or awnings in windows to deflect the heat, and keep them closed during the day. A low-cost option is covering windows with cardboard.
- Identify areas in your home that stay cool, think about how to keep them cool and how they can be set up for sleeping.
- Fans help move cooler air from outdoors into your home during the late evening and early morning hours but should not be relied upon as a primary cooling method during extreme heat events.
- If feasible, install a window air conditioner in at least one room.
- Extreme heat can lead to power and water outages.
- If you rely on an elevator or have reduced mobility, have a back-up plan for exiting your building and getting supplies.
- Install a carbon monoxide detector with back up battery power.
- Keep a checklist of all things you should do before and after a power outage like unplugging appliances and electronics to avoid damage when power is restored.