EMSA Reminding People To Drink Water During Extreme Temperatures

As people spent the Fourth of July holiday outside, EMSA encouraged everyone to drink water and take care of themselves in the hot temperatures. 

EMSA said it has responded to 77 heat related illness calls by July 2024, 36 of those happened between June 23 and July 3, 2024, during the medical heat alert that was issued. 

"Is it two weeks now it's been almost 100 every day?" said Jeremy Walker. 

Walker and his crew were out mowing lawns most of their day.

"Mentality is not the highest so just trying to get through it," he said. 

He said it's a fast-paced business, but they did what they could to take care of themselves.

"We're just dealing with the heat, trying to stay hydrated, taking breaks but not too often, because that's part of the lawn business, is go, go, go," Walker said. 

For those out in the heat, like the Renaissance Lawn and landscape team, EMSA said it's important to drink water.

"As it continues to get hot and we continue not to hydrate, we get heat exhaustion calls," EMSA paramedic instructor Russell Friske said. 

Friske has an easy way to calculate how much water each person needs to drink each day.

"The rule of thumb is typically one ounce per kilogram. The easiest way to do this is take your body weight, just divide it by two and go, alright, this is the amount of water I should be drinking," he said. 

But over time, Walker learned it's important to take a proactive approach.

"To drink and stay hydrated is great, but you need to do it the day before, so your cells need to volumize, fill up with sodium and water to be hydrated for the next day," he said. 

EMSA also reminds folks that even with the sun being down, it's just as important to drink water at night as it is during the day.