7 Tips to Stay Cool In a Heat Wave

By Bloomberg

(Bloomberg) —

From Illinois to Ohio, New Brunswick to Nova Scotia, large swaths of the US and Canada are experiencing a heat wave this week that could threaten human health and infrastructure. But despite warnings from government officials, meteorologists and climate experts, the dangers of high temperatures are easily overlooked.

“Heat’s tricky,” says Este Geraghty, chief medical officer for Esri, a mapping software company commonly used by government officials to map and respond to extreme heat locally. “It’s been called the silent killer, and for good reason.” Geraghty says it’s easy for people to not realize heat is impacting them “until it’s too late.”

In 2023, the hottest year ever recorded, heat-related illness caused more than 120,000 emergency room visits across the US, according to Mandy Cohen, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Heat also contributed to more than 2,300 deaths in the US last year, according to an Associated Press review of CDC data. As climate change continues to make extreme heat more common and more intense, those impacts are expected to get worse.

But while extreme heat isn’t going away anytime soon, it doesn’t have to be so deadly. Here are some tips for staying safe.

Know your heat risk

Heat doesn’t impact everyone equally, which means one key way to prepare for it is figuring out whether you have a higher risk profile. Groups that are especially vulnerable to the heat include infants and young children; pregnant people; people roughly 65 and older; athletes; the homeless population; outdoor workers; people with certain chronic health conditions, such as heart disease or diabetes; and those taking certain medicines for such conditions.

Also at risk are people whose socioeconomic status leaves them ill-equipped to cope with rising temperatures, particularly if they don’t have air conditioning at home. “Low-income people, in general, are more at risk,” says Jane Gilbert, chief heat officer for Florida’s Miami-Dade County. They can be confronted with a choice of “keeping cool or putting food on the table,” she says.

Use air conditioning when possible

The best way to stay safe during a heat wave is to avoid exposure to extreme temperatures. And the best way to do that is to stay in a cool, ideally air-conditioned space.

“For those with air conditioning, it is important to use it,” says Renee Salas, a physician affiliated with the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. “But make sure you have a backup plan if you lose power.”

For those without AC at home, Salas recommends seeking out the coolest part of the house — such as the basement or other lower levels — and trying to keep it as cool as possible. That can be accomplished by covering windows and minimizing use of any appliances, like ovens, that generate heat.

Even then, there may be a point at which your home is too hot to stay in. “If you have a home that is going to overheat into the high 30s, 40s, 50s [Celsius], the only way to get safely through the event is not to be in that indoor environment,” warns Sarah Henderson, scientific director of environmental health services at the BC Centre for Disease Control. During heat waves, many cities in Canada and the US provide “cooling centers” — indoor spaces, typically air-conditioned, that are open to the public.

When an extreme heat wave struck British Columbia in 2021, more than 600 people died, including many elderly people living alone without AC. Since then, Canadian officials have been “really trying to push on this idea that it’s the indoor temperatures you need to pay attention to,” says Henderson. She recommends that people “keep a thermometer with you at all times in your home.”

Limit outdoor time

If you’re unable to stay indoors all day, try to at least avoid the outdoors — especially for strenuous activities — during the hottest parts of the day. “Plan around high-heat risk days,” Cohen at the CDC said during an April press conference on government tracking of heat health impacts.

This doesn’t mean you can’t go outside, Cohen noted, but it’s safest to “schedule outdoor activities for cooler parts of the day.” That might mean getting your workout in early in the morning, or running errands after sunset. When you do spend time outside, try to avoid direct sun or at least take frequent shade breaks.

Dress for the heat

For people who have to be outside, it can be helpful to have “your skin exposed and wear loose-fitting and light-colored clothes,” Salas says. Looser clothes enable airflow over the body, which can help sweat evaporate and keep you cool. Lighter clothes don’t absorb as much heat as darker ones.

Stay hydrated

One easy way to help avoid getting sick from the heat is “staying well hydrated by drinking water and limiting drinking things that can cause you to be dehydrated,” says Salas. “Being hydrated allows you to keep producing sweat.” A good indicator of hydration is if your urine is clear or a light yellow color, she says.

Older adults don’t sweat as much as young and middle-aged adults. Similarly, people with certain chronic conditions may be less efficient at sweating, or might be taking medications that can increase urination or trigger dehydration. For that reason, even people who don’t feel thirsty or aren’t sweating much should still drink more fluids when it’s hot out.

Drinking water is important, and so is replacing salts lost during sweating. Sports drinks and other beverages with electrolytes can help. Caffeinated and alcoholic beverages, on the other hand, tend to cause greater dehydration.

Know the signs of heat illness

Heat exposure can lead to different types of illness, ranging from heat rash (a cluster of small, red blisters on the skin) and sunburns (warm, red skin that can be painful and possibly blister) to heat cramping and exhaustion. A particularly dangerous form of heat illness is called heat stroke, and people suffering from this should be immediately seen by medical professionals. Symptoms of heat stroke vary but tend to include high body temperatures (generally 103°F or higher); fast pulse; hot, red, dry or damp skin; headache; dizziness; nausea; confusion; and loss of consciousness. In extreme cases, heat stroke can lead to organ failure and even death.

Check on your friends and family

Some of the people most vulnerable during a heat wave are those who live alone or are unable to care for themselves. “Check in, check in, check in if you know someone who is highly susceptible to heat — they’re living alone with schizophrenia or they are elderly living alone with disabilities,” says Henderson at the CDC in British Columbia. “Get eyes or ears on that individual multiple times daily, especially in the evening when it tends to be hotter indoors.”

To assess how someone living alone is handling the heat, don’t just ask if they’re okay. “We assume that because [people] are not complaining, they’re okay,” says Glen Kenny, a University of Ottawa physiology professor who studies heat’s impacts on the body. “That is garbage.” Instead, ask questions such as: What’s the temperature in your home? How are you sleeping? If you find someone in a hot home or an untenable situation, encourage them to seek relief elsewhere. Better yet, help them get there.

Listen on Zero: How to Redesign Cities to Cope With Extreme Heat

To contact the author of this story:
Zahra Hirji in Washington at zhirji@bloomberg.net

Share on Social