BATON ROUGE, La. (BRPROUD) — According to the CDC, more than 600 people die every year due to heat-related deaths in the U.S.
“You never want to leave a child or a pet inside of a vehicle with its windows rolled up. It gets hot in the vehicle very, very quickly. And then the baby or the pet can succumb to the heat,” Brad Harris, East Baton Rouge EMS Public Information Officer said.
Harris said regardless if you’re riding in a hot vehicle, working outside, or even out and about, he said that you should always listen to your body.
“Some people choose to ignore the symptoms, or they think they’ve done enough, but they haven’t. Watch your body, look at your urine color. If you use the restroom and you notice that it’s a very dark yellow, that means that you need to drink more fluids,” Harris said.
Harris said even on the job, you should always put your health first. Therefore, the Construction Supervisor of Patriot Industries Concrete, Samuel Mire ensures he and his team are doing just that. Mire said his staff drinks eight cases of water a day working in a heated environment.
“It starts the day before, you know, if you show up to work already dehydrated, it’s kind of too late to start drinking water. You want to start the night before, you know, make sure you get a good bit of water in for the next day. That way you wake up hydrated, ready to go,” Mire.
Harris said if you are going to be in the hot sun, make sure to wear light clothing, drink plenty of fluids the night before, and limit yourself to alcohol and caffeine.
