Temperatures continue to rise, and warmer weather means a growing threat of heat exhaustion.
St. Rita's physician Jason Hageman says high humidity is a contributor to heat exhaustion. Symptoms include increased heart rate, fainting, nausea, sweating and more. Hageman says the elderly and young are most vulnerable, but anyone working outside, playing sports, or doing other labor in the heat is at risk.
He recommends drinking lots of fluids and taking breaks from the heat. "First of all you should try to move to a cool place and try to get a mister or try taking in cool fluids, if someone has a more severe form then that involves rapid cooling, or if they're confused then that would be someone that needs to come to the hospital and into the emergency department because that often ties requires more intensive care," said Dr. Hageman.
Hageman says it's also a good idea to use a misting machine and says the best way to get rid of heat is through evaporation.
