NASHVILLE – Summer has officially arrived in Tennessee, bringing scorching temperatures and the risk of West Nile Virus. Activities of daily life often mean exposing ourselves to extreme heat or going outdoors at times when mosquitoes carrying WNV may be active. The Department of Health is sharing simple tips that can help you reduce your risk of seasonal illness during the hot summer months.

Temperatures that soar into the 90s and beyond bring the risk for heat-related illness. Heat-related illnesses include heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps and heat rash. Signs of heat-related illness include dizziness, heavy sweating, muscle cramps, rapid heart beat, nausea, headaches and cold/clammy skin.

“Heat-related illnesses and deaths are common, yet preventable problems,” said Health Commissioner Susan R. Cooper, MSN, RN. “When temperatures are extremely high, Tennesseans must make smart decisions about their exposure to heat. Avoid going outside during the hottest part of the day whenever possible, and be sure never to leave anyone unattended in a car.”

It’s also important to take steps to protect and care for the very young and the elderly, who are at greater risk in extreme heat. People with chronic diseases such as heart disease, diabetes, obesity and lung disease are also at an increased risk of heat-related illnesses.

Heat stroke is the most life-threatening heat-related illness. Each year, about 400 people nationwide die from heat stroke. Heat stroke occurs when the body is unable to regulate its temperature, which rises quickly without the ability to cool down. If emergency treatment is not provided, heat stroke can cause death or permanent disability. Symptoms include body temperature above 103 degrees Fahrenheit; red, hot and dry skin without sweating; rapid, strong pulse; throbbing headache; dizziness; nausea; confusion and loss of consciousness.

Call for immediate medical help if you believe you or another person is experiencing heat stroke. While waiting on emergency assistance, get the victim to a shady area, cool him or her rapidly using cool water and monitor body temperature until it reaches 101 to 102 degrees Fahrenheit, and do not give the victim any fluids to drink.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offers a few simple steps to avoid these preventable heat-related illnesses:

• Drink plenty of fluids. Don’t wait until you are thirsty to drink. Remember to consume non-alcoholic, low-sugar drinks in hot weather.
• Replace salt and minerals. Heavy sweating can deplete your body’s salt and minerals. Non-alcoholic drinks, like sports drinks, can help you replenish these reserves.
• Wear appropriate clothing and sunscreen. Choose lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing, as well as a wide-brimmed hat and sunglasses with UV protection. Wear SPF 15 or higher sunscreen every
  day.
• Schedule outdoor activities carefully. Try to limit outdoor activity to morning and evening hours with rest breaks in shady areas, if available. UV rays are strongest and do the most damage during midday
  hours.
• Pace yourself. If you are unaccustomed to working or exercising in a hot environment, start slowly and increase effort gradually. If your heart is pounding or you are gasping for breath, stop the activity and
  rest in a cool, shady area.
• Stay cool indoors. If your home does not have air conditioning, go to the mall or library to cool off. Cool showers or baths, and keeping your stove and oven off, are other ways to cool down inside.
• Use the buddy system. Partner with a friend and watch each other for signs of heat-related illness. Senior citizens are more susceptible, so if you know someone over age 65, check on them over the phone twice a day.

For more information about heat-related illnesses, including prevention and treatment tips, visit the CDC’s Extreme Heat Safety Web site at http://www.bt.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/heat_guide.asp.

As you schedule outdoor activities to avoid adverse affects from the heat, make sure you are protecting yourself and loved ones from West Nile Virus too. This illness is most commonly transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. Most mosquitoes likely to transmit WNV bite at dawn and dusk. The best way to prevent WNV infection is to avoid mosquito bites.

These simple tips can help:

• If you must go outside during dawn and dusk, use insect repellent or wear long sleeves, long pants and socks.
• Eliminate standing water near your home, which can serve as a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Many containers, even those as small as a bottle cap, can hold enough water for mosquitoes to breed.
• Keep windows and doors closed or cover them with screens to prevent mosquitoes from entering your home.
• Use insect repellent containing either DEET, Picaridin, oil of lemon eucalyptus or IR3535.

For more information about West Nile Virus, visit the TDOH Web site at http://health.state.tn.us/ceds/WNV/wnvhome.asp.

The greater Clarksville area seems to have skipped autumn altogether, moving strait from hot humid lingering 80s to winter. The proof is in the mittens, mufflers, wool caps, boots  and winter parkas popping up all over town. Even a quick sprint from parked car to supermarket entrance requires a bit of bundling. Waiting for a bus can be a challenge in this blustery cold weather.

Dress warmly and layer clothing

• Bundle up! Your wardrobe should contain a warm jacket or coat, sweaters, sweatshirts, sweatpants, and long pants. Mix in some items that can easily add layers of warmth. Turtlenecks and thermal underclothes are ideal. If you need to be outdoors, dress in layers, with a windbreaker or parka to insulate you from the wind.
• Always wear a hat, scarf, and gloves or mittens when going outdoors. Don’t skip the gloves just because they don’t fit your gnarly fingers perfectly. In that case, mittens are a good alternative. Just be sure your hands are covered.
• As for boots, forget about being a fashionista: Get boots that are waterproof. You must keep your feet dry if you are going to keep warm. Thick lug soles will keep your feet warmer than those wafer-thin soles on higher-heeled boots.
• To be blunt, women’s long underwear often has less warmth and texture than men’s.  In this age of leggings, wear a warm close fitting knit legging under pants and skirts.
• Smart Wool and other high tech socks cost more up front, but wear exceptionally well; they have wicking abilities that keep feet dry as well as warm (Ed: My first pairs of Smart Wools lasted six New England winters of wear — not bad for $12 a pair.)

Don’t scrimp on heat

Escalatingb utility costs notwithsatnding, this is not a time to scrimp on heat (especially for the elderly, who are more susceptiable to hypothermia and pneumonia). Scrimping on heat is not an option for arthritis patients. Lowering the thermostat may save money now, but could cost quite a bit more later.

• Keep the thermostat at a reasonable setting — a setting that you determine is comfortable. Consider a programmable thermostat that you can set lower for the hours you are away from home, and adjusts to a higher temperature right before you come home. While it’s efficient, a programmable thermostat assures you will have a warm temperature when you are at home.
• Instead of raising the thersmostat, you can save money by dressing warmly inside your home; top off that  T-shirt or housedress with a sweater; keep your socks and shoes on (or wear houselippers).
• Close drapes and/or curtains at night to keep heat in; open them to let sunlight in during the day.
• Caroets and area rugs can mitigate the chill of cold linoleum or tile floors.
• Make sure that storm windows are tightly fitted.  Caulk drafty windows and use weather stripping around doors and windows.  Use plastic storm windows inside your home if you do not have exterior storm windows.
• Plug in some warmth with an electric blanket or heating pad. The electric blanket is more effective for keeping you warm while you are resting or sleeping. For those with arethritis, heating pads are more useful for localized areas where joints have become stiff and painful from the cold weather. Many different electric blankets and heating pads are available. Rice packs (microwaveable now) can be tucked in the foot of your bed for a “bedwarmer” effect.

Think twice before going outdoors

Put on a jacket to run outside to get the mail or to  dash into your car for a quick trip to the store or post office.  All you get cold. So, no quick trips out into the cold without proper clothing and outerwear.

Treat yourself

That steaming cup of tea, coffee or hot chocolate can really warm you up from the inside out. Hot beverages are soothing, comforting, and warming. Start your day or end your day with a hot drink. Hot tea or hot chocolate should be considered staples. Always have them on hand.

“The final days for pools are upon us this week. The pools will officially close for the summer season on August 3.” As the August heat — those unbearable ‘dog days’ – descend, the pools close up and our children head back to school. Insanity. The calendar runs summer through September 23rd.

Now I realize that the weather does begin its shift out of sync with the calendar, but in a town where lakes and ponds are virtually non-existent and the grass dries out from the often unrelenting heat, it makes no sense to:

a) start school that early (just as it makes no sense to end the school year in mid-May), and

b) close pools when they offer the greatest amount of relief from heat and humidity.

I can only hope we are not re-visited by a replay of last summer’s 100+degree record-breaking heat waves, or that if we are, that bus drivers and students are allowed to bring bottled water along for the ride, that sports trainers are aware of the correlation between high heat, heat indexes, heat island effects and potential illness.

I realize that many like this system, that the early start date for local schools has great support in many corners, but it doesn’t take an hour for hot humid air in close quarters to trigger heat exhaustion or worse.

The rest of this public notice reads:

“It’s not too late to get in on some cool summer fun at Smith Pool on Greenwood Avenue at Norman Smith Elementary School. Smith Pool is less crowded during the morning hours and is an excellent place for adults with small children to spend a relaxing time. Pool admission is $5 and after 3 p.m., late arrivals pay $3. All of our pools will be open daily this week from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m.”

]]> http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2008/07/27/pools-to-close-as-the-summer-heat-revs-up/feed/ 0 http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2007/08/27/a-summer-for-the-record-books/ http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2007/08/27/a-summer-for-the-record-books/#comments Mon, 27 Aug 2007 16:25:56 +0000 Christine Anne Piesyk http://www.clarksvilleonline.com/2007/08/27/a-summer-for-the-record-books/ It’s been a long, hot summer, and it’s not quite over yet. The relentless heat has toppled records dating back 137 years in Nashville, and there hasn’t been a lot of difference in the “feels like” heat between Nashville and downtown Clarksville.

Sunday marked the 32nd consecutive day of highs over 90, breaking a 53-year-old record, and setting another record — 24 consecutive days of 95+ temps. Middle Tennessee broke five daily high temp records in August.

Fifteen days in August saw temperatures top the 100 degree mark, more than twice as many as ever before recorded, and records have been maintained since 1870.

The daily high temperature in the greater Nashville area was 99.7 degrees.

It’s also bee a dry summer, with only 3.92 inches of rain recorded at Nashville since June 1.

These statistics do not reflect heat indexes, which can add six or more degrees to the heat levels in urban centers and extensively paved areas.

In Clarksville, we are in for a few more days of 90+ heat, but the end may be in sight: forecasters are calling for a “cool down” into the upper 80s by week’s end. No rain, though. At least not yet.

Unrelenting, record-breaking heat has baked Middle Tennessee and most of the South and Midwest since July, with daytime highs in the mid to upper 90s and often 100+. Heat indexes can add another 5-8 degrees to that even as humidity makes the air feel thicker than a hearty soup in winter. And it’s not over yet.

Forecasts indicate that starting Wednesday, the area is in for another three days of 100+ temps, dangerously high heat that to date has cost the lives of at least 49 people across South and Midwestern states. Overnight cool downs to the low 70s do little to abate the warmth, and usually by 10 a.m., the burn is back.

Indicators of the severity of this heat and prolonged include the closing of the Clarksville Farmer’s Market last week due to the lack of marketable produce. Organizers and vendors said the heat combined with the drought had killed the bulk of their crops. Dairy farmers and those with herds of beef cattle are hard pressed to find affordable feed for their livestock.

The drought is evidenced by low water tables and river levels, which has triggered an overabundance of some forms of algae, giving an “unpleasant stench and taste “to local tap water.

The heat island effect is created in many urban areas that are paved over, filled with heat absorbing concrete and steel, and without the naturally cooling effect of significant greenspace.

On May 11-12, 1997, NASA illustrated this effect using a specially outfitted Lear Jet to collect thermal data on metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia (pictured at left). Nicknamed “Hot-Lanta,” that city saw daytime air temperatures of only about 80 degrees Fahrenheit on those days, but some of its surface temperatures soared to 118 degrees Fahrenheit. In this image, blue shows cool temperatures and red shows warm temperatures. Pockets of especially hot temperatures appear in white. (Image/notes courtesy NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio.)

As for the local forecast, Intellicast.com offers the well-broiled middle Tennessee area a slight ray of hope: predicted highs in the upper 80s by Wednesday, August 29 — a week from now. Meanwhile, several local agencies have offered fans and air conditioners to families and the elderly, and “cooling stations” within supplies of bottled water and misting fans, are among the most popular attractions at many summer events.

For the remainder of this week, though, caution is advised for those who must work or travel in the heat. Wear cool, light-colored clothing, try to avoid being out in the hottest period of the day (from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.), and stay hydrated. Drinks lots of water. Dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke can happen quickly. If you suddenly start to feel ill, weak or have any unusual symptoms, seek an air conditioned space to cool down and drink plenty of non-caffeinated liquids. If symptoms persist, get medical attention. Heat stroke can kill.

As the region slowly works its way across the calendar toward fall and cooler temperatures, residents are reminded to keep eye on their neighbors, particularly the elderly and infirm, who may have difficulty coping with the heat. Pets need access to shade and constantly refreshed water. Children should not be left in cars at any time, but especially in this overwhelming heat, which can climb to 140 degrees inside a closed car in a matter of minutes.

School opens this week (Thursday in Clarksville) in most area schools. Please keep a watchful eye for children crossing streets, and remember to stop for school buses (it’s the law)!

Having lived in the area for three and a half years, I remain amazed by the early start to the school year. Having watched severe heat waves unfold in August for two of those three summers, I remain amazed that more school children, teachers, and bus drivers aren’t sickened by the excessive heat in the time it takes to line up, board, travel and debark from the yellow academic arks. Short for archaic?

What’s the deal?

Pools close just as the hottest month of the year kicks in, leaving parents with other young children unable access that form of cooling, and leaving no cooling options for the hot weekends still to come. Pools close because the school year starts, and many of the young lifeguards are heading back to class. And do they close this early out of antiquated habit?

The county clings to closure in May, before the summer heat sets in, which sets the stage for the first-day-of-school surge in August, just as temps will hit 100+ with high humidity, dangerous heat indexes, and poor air quality. Again. Of course, everyone will feel better too as they inhale the exhaust fumes and feel the heat radiating off a dozen or two buses and cars in crowded school parking lots when the mercury crosses the century mark. Are bus drivers certified in first aid and prepared to deal with heat exhaustion?

Add to all that the reality that air conditioning bills for the schools are a nightmare still in development, given the surge of people crowding into hallways to generate even more heat.

I believe it would make so much more sense to keep students in school until mid-June, and return closer to Labor, and closer to the starting time-line of most colleges and universities. Let our children stay home, and stay cool, in the hottest month. School will still be there in September, and in June.

Combined with the ongoing drought, the heat can be expected brown out lawns and increase potential for fire (grass, brush). No rain is expected, though some thunderstorms may develop toward the end of the week.

This heat is deadly. Residents of Middle Tennessee are urged to use caution, check on the wellbeing of neighbors (especially the elderly), and help pets stay cool by keeping them indoors or in shade with plenty of fresh cool water. Do not leave pets or anyone in a closed parked car, since temperatures can soar to deadly levels in minutes. People with respiratory, blood pressure or other health related issues will be particularly affected by this heat wave, and by the dangerously poor air quality and ozone levels accompanying it.

Limit time outdoors at the peak of the day, and consume plenty of liquids to stay hydrated. Know the sign of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, and pay attention to your body’s messages. if you are outside and don’t feel well, get inside and stay cool.