SOME spectators having trouble with sun, heat at U.S. Open golf tournament

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ U.S. Open spectators not used to the Oklahoma sun in June have been keeping medical personnel busy with heat-related ailments. <br><br>Three people were transported to area hospitals

Wednesday, June 13th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ U.S. Open spectators not used to the Oklahoma sun in June have been keeping medical personnel busy with heat-related ailments.

Three people were transported to area hospitals on Monday after suffering chest pains, and EMSA transported three people on Tuesday, said Randy Harper, nursing supervisor for the golf tournament's first aid operations

``We're seeing a lot of dehydration,'' Harper said. ``As it's starting to heat up, people are not drinking enough water.''

While it could rain on Friday, aid station workers said they expect to get more heart- and heat-related complaints.

``As the big names go through the course, that's when we start seeing people,'' Harper said. ``People just aren't prepared.''

Eric Spyres, a field operations supervisor for EMSA, said the sun and the hills were quickly taking a toll on spectators.

Spyres works on one of two bicycle teams covering Southern Hills Country Club during the U.S. Open. The teams are covering ``a town about the size of Joplin, Mo., inside a given area of what, a couple of square miles,'' he noted.

Spyres said a contributing factor to spectators' heat problems is their underestimation of how much time they will be on the course and the kind of the terrain they will encounter. They don't realize that there are hills at Southern Hills.

Harper recommended people dress in light colors, keep water handy and eat something.

If they don't, Spyres' teams are ready to respond.

``The bags we carry are heavier than the bikes,'' he said. ``We've got cardiac monitors, oxygen, breathing tubes; basically everything you need.''