Residents hoping to get a break from the heat Monday were hit with one of the hottest days in the summer, with temperatures climbing to nearly 91 degrees Fahrenheit with a heat index of over 100.
During these hot times, residents should be aware of how to treat heat-related illnesses, including heat rash, heat exhaustion, and the most serious, heat stroke. Heat-related illnesses account for nearly 240 deaths annually in the United States.
Know the warning signs
According to Medicine.net, heat rash is a skin irritation caused by excessive sweating during hot, humid weather. It can occur at any age, but is most common in infants and children under the age of 4 and elderly people over the age of 65. Heat rash is one of the easiest heat-related illnesses to treat.
Heat exhaustion is a milder heat-related illness that can develop over a period of time with exposure to hot temperatures or dehydration. Replacing fluids is essential to preventing heat exhaustion. The people that are especially prone to suffering from heat exhaustion are elderly people, those with high blood pressure and people working or exercising in hot temperatures. Warning signs of heat exhaustion include heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea or vomiting and fainting.
The most dangerous of heat-related illnesses is heat stroke. If heat stroke goes untreated, the person suffering is at risk of dying. Those suffering from or noticing someone suffering from heat stroke symptoms should call 911 immediately.
Heat stroke is a form of hyperthermia. Unlike less serious forms like heat cramps and heat exhaustion, heat stroke is considered a medical emergency. In extreme heat, if the body can’t dissipate heat, the body temperature will rise. In extremely serious instances, the body temperature can rise to almost 106 degrees.
Symptoms of heat stroke include unconsciousness or a markedly abnormal mental status (dizziness, confusion, hallucinations or coma), flushed, hot and dry skin, a slightly elevated blood pressure and hyperventilating.
Practice begins
Monday’s high temperatures happened to coincide with the first day of fall sports practices at area high schools. Although they are doing everything they know to prevent serious health problems from the extreme heat, both Milton football coach Mike Bergey and Shikellamy High School athletic trainer Mike Elder subscribe to the theory that prevention is the best medicine.
Both men said Monday that what the athletes did in the preceding weeks and months to prepare for this week’s practices should go a long way in protecting them from problems associated with the heat.
“It seems like every August the temperatures seem to go up on us,” Bergey said after his Black Panthers had completed their workouts for the first day. “The humidity makes it so much worse. It is smothering. When you are out in it for a while, it isn’t as bad, but when you go from the air conditioning to the outside, it smothers you.”
Although many coaches can remember their own playing days where their coaches made them feel ashamed to ask for drinks of water, Bergey said that was not the case for him when he played under Milton coach Dave Six.
“A generation or two before me, it was more of a ‘suck it up and deal with it’ type thing. It wasn’t emphasized as much as today, but, with coach Six, if we wanted a drink, we were able to do that,” Bergey recalled.
Elder, in his 10th year as the Shikellamy trainer, hopes that his message to athletes over the years is paying dividends. He advises them, regardless of the sport, to spend some time training in the heat during the summer to get their bodies acclimated to the weather conditions.
He said it takes 10 to 14 days to accomplish that condition and allow their bodies to adjust to it.
He also urges the athletes to look out for one another.
“I tell the kids every year that they are responsible for themselves and each other. If they see a kid who doesn’t look quite right, doesn’t feel well, throws up in the huddle and no one sees it, they need to speak up,” he said. “If they have a lineman who is not getting off the ball as quickly as he was two or three plays ago, they need to speak up, and be aware of the signs of heat stroke such as profuse sweating, dizziness or nausea.
“Some of them may want to play through it because of the coach, but I let them know in front of the coaches that they need to speak up and that there will be no ill will. If the coaches give them a tongue lashing, then they are not taking responsibility,” Elder said.
News
Related Photos
-
Liz Rohde/The Daily Item
Discussion
Valley residents and football players feel the heat
- News
-
-
Raw milk remains popular, despite illnesses
WASHINGTON — The popularity of unpasteurized raw milk remains strong despite warnings from public health officials about its dangers and outbreaks of bacterial infections. In the latest case untreated contaminated milk from a Pennsylvania farm has sickened 38 people on the East Coast. It's a reminder of the risks of consuming milk bottled straight from the cow.
-
State Supreme Court explains legislative redistricting decision
HARRISBURG — The Pennsylvania Supreme Court today explained its reasons for rejecting the state's legislative redistricting plan last week, and a justice who disagreed with the ruling said this year's races will have to be held under the existing, decade-old maps.
-
Heinz Endowments fund Flight 93 oral histories
PITTSBURGH — A project to compile oral histories of those connected to the crash of hijacked United Airlines Flight 93 will continue for at least the next three years due to a $225,000 grant from The Heinz Endowments.
-
LARA looks ahead
LEWISBURG -- The Lewisburg Community Pool and spring and summer schedule of events are the big concerns these days for those running the Lewisburg Area Recreation Authority. Officials are confident they finally have the regional recreation authority's financial situation under control.
-
Wirth not first driver to face murder charge
LEWISBURG -- Christopher Wirth isn't the first person to face a third-degree murder charge in connection with a fatal crash in Union County. "A death involving a vehicle can support third-degree murder depending on the acts of the subject," District Attorney D. Peter Johnson said Thursday.
-
Bumpy ride for prison officers
SUNBURY -- It's been a rough week for two Northumberland County Prison commanders who were suspended without pay, had their wages reinstated, were laid off and then rehired. On Monday, Brian Wheary was suspended without pay from his $36,030-a-year position as commander. By Thursday, the 37-year-old was back on the job.
-
Reality TV star ready for visit
SHAMOKIN -- Ron Shirley has never been to Shamokin, has never been to the Valley at all, but he has an idea of what's waiting for him here. "The only thing I expect is to meet friendly, honest people," said Shirley, a star of the hit Tru TV reality series, "Lizard Lick Towing."
-
Masser to seek 2nd term
ELYSBURG -- State Rep. Kurt Masser, a Republican from Elysburg, announced Thursday that he will seek a second term representing the 107th Legislative District in the state House. "I am pleased to announce that I will be seeking a second term to represent the people of our area," he said. "We've accomplished a lot in our first term, but there is so much more to do. I want to keep being an independent voice for our community in Harrisburg."
-
West Milton man arraigned on robbery charges
A West Milton man is the second suspect in an armed robbery at a West Buffalo Township convenience store Saturday night. Michael Gulli, 41, of 310 Broad St., was arrested by Milton state police who said Gulli was involved in pointing a gun at two employees of the Forest Hill Store, on Buffalo Road, in Union County, and threatening to kill them.
-
Show guns for 1,500
LEWISBURG -- Hundreds of long rifles and other Colonial weapons that helped win the Revolutionary War and forge a nation will be on display -- and some, for sale -- today through Saturday at the fifth annual 18th Century Artisan Show.
-
VIDEO: Social media command center helps Super Bowl visitors
Indianapolis is the first Super Bowl host city to utilize the power of Twitter and other social media to help football fans get the most out of football's biggest event.
-
Tim Burns drops out of U.S. Senate race
HARRISBURG — An entrepreneur from southwestern Pennsylvania is dropping out of the race for U.S. Senate now that the Republican Party has endorsed another candidate.
- More News Headlines
-
