With the temperature expected to hit the low to mid-30s through much of southern Saskatchewan Saturday – and the humidex even beyond that – the sun will be baking hot, so be careful going outside.
Dr. Maurice Hennink with the Saskatchewan Health Authority offers a tip for those planning any outdoor work tomorrow.
“If you’ve got any yardwork scheduled, it’s Saturday and you’re going to be out and about, try and do these things in the early morning hours when it’s a lot cooler because from 12 o’clock tomorrow until 7 in the evening, it will be certainly in the 30s and quite hot,” Hennink said.
He said sunburn is one of the most common experience to come out of a hot day, and be careful to not leave any pets or children in your vehicle.
But heat exhaustion is also potentially an issue. Hennink talked about the signs.
“That is when one gets really really hot when you’re out and about in the sun and it’s very hot outside,” he said. “You’re usually sweating profusely, breathing shallow, feeling tired and possibly even nauseous.”
Hennink said the important thing when you see these symptoms is to get out of the heat and cooled down before it progresses to a much-more-serious heat stroke.
“People are so hot, they even stop sweating because the sweating mechanisms have shut down,” he said. “They lose consciousness, they’re usually very confused. They’re super hot patients at that point in time.”
Thankfully, heat stroke is much more rare than heat exhaustion. But if you come across somebody in that situation, Hennink said to move them into a shady area, call 9-1-1, get medical assistance and cool them down with whatever you have.
Hennink said with a one-day event like this hot day, we’re likely to see less than a week-long hot streak.
He said it’s also best not to cook tomorrow, so cooler foods like salads are best to try to keep your home less hot.
