Tulsans Try To Beat The Heat

August heat is here and anyone who was outside today had to deal with it.

EMSA medics responded to five suspected heat-related calls Sunday. Patients ranged in age from 31 to 57. 

EMSA says some of the keys to staying safe in the heat are to stay hydrated and to know when to get help. 

As the scorching heat swept through Green Country today, kids and adults alike were trying to beat the heat. Christina Fuller brought her son Jack Knight out to the splash pad on the Guthrie Green. 

Fuller said, "Well it was just hot outside, and we needed to cool down a little bit, and I saw that they were playing some music tonight so, brought him out here."

Fuller and her son weren’t the only ones though. Just a few miles away firefighters were battling a house fire. Crews on scene were chugging water trying to stay hydrated. 

Stacy Belk, Assistant Chief of the Tulsa Fire Department said, “It takes a really big toll on them especially since for some of them this is their second fire today. So, it takes a big toll, we do a good job and our incident commanders do a good job making sure they get rotated out and rehabbed."

EMSA Field Supervisor Alek Carson says just yesterday they received 20 heat-related calls and at the time of our interview this afternoon they had received three and expected that number to rise.

Carson said, "We are looking for signs and symptoms are they confused, are they disoriented, are they sweating uncontrollably, have they stopped sweating anything along those lines, are very concerning to us".

Carson says those most at risk are young children and the elderly. He says it’s important to stay hydrated and if you suspect that someone may be getting sick from the heat, bring them to a cool place, and use ice packs.

Carson says if someone has been out in the heat and feels confused, disoriented or dizzy call 911.