NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — With dangerously hot temperatures expected this week in Middle Tennessee, the Nashville Emergency Operations Center says it wants you to stay safe in the heat
The Nashville Weather Service says it’s been more than 3,300 days since we last reached 100 degrees in Music City – and Thursday could be when that streak ends.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also has some tips on how to stay safe during dangerous heat and what to do if you get too hot.
WHAT TO LOOK FOR
For you to stay safe in excessive heat, there are a few things you need to be on the lookout for.
- For heat exhaustion, look for heavy sweating, cold pale and clammy skin, nausea or vomiting dizziness, even fainting.
WHAT TO DO
- When you start seeing these signs, loosen your clothes, move to a cool place and sip water or even put wet clothes on your body. If you start vomiting, the symptoms get worse or last more than an hour, get medical help.
- For heat stroke, you'll see some similarities with heat exhaustion – like headaches, dizziness – but look out for a high body temp, like 103 or higher, and hot red dry or damp skin.
- Call 911 because heat stroke is an emergency. Try and lower the person’s body temperature, move them to a cool place or use cool clothes but do not give the person something to drink.
"Many people start to feel heat exhaustion very quickly. They start to develop cramps, particularly in their lower extremities. They get extremes of thirst if they just can't quench their thirst. They stop sweating sometimes, initially they're sweating a lot,” said Dr. Jeffry Davidson with emergency medicine.
According to the CDC, over the course of 11 years, from 1999 to 2010, there were more than 8,000 heat-related deaths. They say the underlying cause for nearly 3/4 of those was exposure to excessive heat, the rest saw heat as a contributing factor.
