Stay hydrated, safeguard pets during excessive summer heat

The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen TOO MUCH SUN FOR FUN: Parks and Trails employee Josh Elmore works on replacing the wood mulch with rubber mulch at the toddler playground at Entergy Park Tuesday. The playground, for ages 2 to 5, is expected to be closed through today. At Lake Hamilton and Hot Springs school districts, students are being kept inside during recess due to the heat.
The Sentinel-Record/Richard Rasmussen TOO MUCH SUN FOR FUN: Parks and Trails employee Josh Elmore works on replacing the wood mulch with rubber mulch at the toddler playground at Entergy Park Tuesday. The playground, for ages 2 to 5, is expected to be closed through today. At Lake Hamilton and Hot Springs school districts, students are being kept inside during recess due to the heat.

As hot and humid conditions continue today, local relief agencies stressed the need to stay hydrated during the intense heat.

The National Weather Service in Little Rock issued an excessive heat warning Tuesday for 37 of the 75 counties in Arkansas, including Garland, effective until 9 p.m., with a new heat advisory in effect from 1-9 p.m. today.

The Weather Service advised avoiding being outdoors if at all possible and if not, frequent rest breaks in shady or air-conditioned areas should be taken. Staying hydrated is paramount and anyone overcome by the heat should immediately be moved to a cool, shaded location. One should call 911 immediately if heat stroke is suspected.

Those without access to air conditioning, the elderly, animals and young children are "especially vulnerable" during such times, the warning said.

Along with the homeless, senior citizens also face difficulty and danger during the intense heat, particularly becoming dehydrated.

"Dehydration. Absolutely. It can happen to any age group, but seniors are highly susceptible," said Diane Harry, senior services director at the CHI St. Vincent Hot Springs Senior Center.

Harry said even though temperatures are reaching dangerous levels, the center has not seen any cases of heat exhaustion, heat stroke or heat-related deaths this year.

"Luckily, we haven't encountered anything that dramatic," she said. To help seniors stay safe, tips on staying cool are included in the center's newsletters, she said.

Harry encouraged those with elderly neighbors or family, especially if they live alone, to check on them, even if simply via a phone call.

United Way of the Ouachitas Associate Director Katie Gibson said that while conditions may prove to be dangerous, summer is usually a safer time for homeless individuals.

"I think it is generally not as big of a problem in our community, because there are lots of public places that are open during the day to stay cool," she said, including public libraries, stores and restaurants.

In the summer, the most dangerous times to be without shelter are in the middle of the day, when businesses and public spaces are open, she said. During the winter, those areas are closed at night, when it is the most dangerous to be outdoors.

Gibson said she was not aware of any cooling centers in the area open currently, but if one does open there is a network in place so the United Way can communicate various local nonprofit providers and make them aware of the service.

"An excessive heat warning means that a prolonged period of dangerously hot temperatures will occur. The combination of hot temperatures and high humidity will combine to create a dangerous situation in which heat illnesses are likely," the NWS said.

Temperature highs were, and will continue to be well into the 90s, "with heat index values from 100 to 110 degrees."

Janie Smith, executive director of Jackson House, said the organization hopes to open a combination cooling and warming center in the next several years. The project is "just in the talking stage" at the moment, though, she said.

For now, Smith said Jackson House provides all those who take advantage of their free meal program with sports drinks, such as Gatorade, to help them stay hydrated, noting they served 175 people on Monday.

Since animals are also vulnerable during summertime scorchers, Kaye Gilder, Garland County Humane Society kennel manager, advised against leaving animals in cars, even if air conditioning is left on.

She encouraged walking dogs in the morning or evening when it is cooler to avoid burned paws; doubling up on fresh, clean water available to animals; providing children's pools filled with cool water for them to cool off in; bringing them inside if possible; and being vigilant to sunburns.

"For your fair-haired, white-haired dogs, they will get sunburned, because the sun goes straight through that fair hair," Gilder said, noting basic dog houses, with no other shelter afforded, is not enough to keep dogs safe in the heat.

"The worst thing in the world to do is put a dog on a chain and give them a doghouse. A doghouse is like a sauna. They can't get cool. It amazes me that people think a doghouse is enough shelter. It's not. It doesn't suffice at all." In a matter of hours in such conditions, a vet visit would be necessary, she said.

Signs of heat stroke in dogs include excessive drooling, panting, fever, vomiting and lethargy. Heat illnesses and difficulty breathing are especially common in dogs with heart and lung disease, as well as flat-faced dog breeds, such as pugs and bulldogs, Gilder said.

"If it just looks like they can't stop panting, you might need to bring your dog into the air conditioning and get cool."

Children are also among those often adversely affected by intense heat. Adriane Barnes, Hot Springs School District communications coordinator, said the district follows a specific set of rules to keep students safe in the summer.

If temperatures and heat indexes are lower than 95 degrees, recesses are held as normal. If the heat reaches 95-100 degrees, students are limited to 10 minutes of outdoor recess at a time. If temperatures rise to 101-104, they are kept indoors.

"Safety is our top priority, and whatever we need to do to keep our kids safe, we're going to do that," Barnes said.

Brian Bridges, Lake Hamilton communications coordinator, said that football field temperatures, as well as heat indexes, are monitored by athletic directors in order to decide whether practice on the turf is safe. Those figures are also monitored by building level administrators to determine recess procedures.

"We have artificial turf, so that holds heat more. It may be hot outside, but you get on the turf and its even hotter. Even if the heat index is not to where it would limit outdoor practice, maybe the field temperature would be," he said.

Bridges said several sports team practices have been moved inside, including those of the cross country team. For other teams, practice times have been adjusted to be in cooler times in the morning or evening.

Currently, students are not having recess outside, Bridges said. Primary and elementary students are being kept inside during afternoon recesses, during which they utilize indoor physical education areas, but are allowed to play outside during morning recesses.

"We're monitoring and adjusting on a daily basis. Safety is our number one priority," he said.

By 4 p.m. Tuesday, the NWS had reported temperatures of 99 degrees with 42 percent humidity and a heat index of 109 degrees.

Local on 08/21/2019

Upcoming Events