AUSTIN, Texas — With temperatures reaching over 100 degrees almost every day in the month of July, heat-related calls are on the rise in Travis County.
"We have run 106 heat-related calls since the first of July. Compare that to the same date period of July 1-15 of 2021, we ran 42," said Austin-Travis County EMS Captain Christa Stedman.
ATCEMS said the ages have ranged from kids all the way up to the elderly.
They have responded to everything from heat exhaustion, which has symptoms of dizziness and muscle cramps, to the more severe cases like heat stroke, where a person’s body temperature can get over 103 degrees.
"Just in the last week, there's been two patients that I know of that have been in severe heat stroke, with core body temperatures above 105. I believe one of the ones I heard of was above 107. Both these patients got aggressively cooled, they got chilled saline," said Stedman.
If a person does have heat stroke, call 911 and keep the person cool, Stedman said.
"We always recommend people start hydrating before they even go outside, we call that pre-hydrating," she added. "Obviously, continue to hydrate while you're outdoors, make sure you're eating full meals, make sure you are wearing light-colored, loose-fitting clothing. When it’s really hot, take breaks in the shade, in the air conditioning if it is possible, and really pay attention to your body."
PEOPLE ARE ALSO READING: