RED-HOT PSA

Forget global warming for a moment: in my corner of the planet today, we have local warming. Intense local warming. Like over 100°F intense.In fact, it goes beyond warming and well into heating (but just short of incinerating). And yet, as Mark Twain allegedly (but probably didn’t) put it, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” Well that stops right here, right now. We’re going to do something about it.

TWO SIMPLE BUT IMPORTANT HOT WEATHER STRATEGIES
1. All you people who walk from your air conditioned house into your air conditioned attached garage to get into your air conditioned car to drive to your air conditioned office? This isn’t exactly for you. But keep reading anyway. This is primarily for people working outside, and that adds up to plenty of people. The body’s top fuel is water. In hot weather, your body’s automatic cooling systems use plenty of it, so replacing fluids in hot weather is more important than eating.

Sports drinks may have their benefits, but nothing you can drink is better than water for keeping the system hydrated. Soft drinks, iced tea, fruit juices, etc, are water-based, but they have definite drawbacks: depending on which a person chooses, they’re also drinking lots of caffeine and sugar. Some of these drinks are actually diuretics by their very nature, so ironically enough, they promote additional fluid loss.

As for indoor workers who live in air conditioned comfort all day every day, it’s worth noting that 75 percent of all Americans are chronically dehydrated. As noted above, sucking on a Big Gulp all day adds lots of needless sugar to the diet. Colas are natural diuretics. So is coffee. So even if you’re exposed to this brutal heat less than five minutes a day, you’d probably do well to drink more water.

2. It seems like an unnecessary reminder, but every summer children are accidentally left in parked cars. Since 1998, an average of 37 U.S. children have died in this manner each year. So far in 2015 the death toll is already 7. According to research by San Jose State University, over the last two decades 636 children have died in hot cars. About half were forgotten by an adult who was taking care of them. Other causes: children knowingly left in a car by someone who didn’t realize the danger involved and who would “be right back;” and children playing in unattended or unused cars who are overcome by heat.

Often the culprit in cases where a parent forgets is a change of routine: Dad usually drops off Junior at daycare, but because of a schedule change, Mom is doing it today. But once she gets in the car, she’s more or less on autopilot, and meanwhile the child falls asleep in the back seat. It’s not an unusual scenario at all. SOLUTIONS: keep something of the child’s – a diaper bag, a blanket, a toy, a pair of shoes, a stuffed animal – in the front seat with you. Depending on what it is, keep it on your lap, on the dashboard, or on top of your lunch or briefcase. Or put something you need for work – your purse, briefcase or lunch, for example – in the backseat with the child. Such simple steps can help prevent a terrible tragedy.