It has been an excruciating couple of weeks here in the south. The temperatures have been in the 100s steadily with an occasional 99 thrown in. The heat index however has been off the charts. My family has said it is like being in a boiling pot stuck at the bottom. The heat hasn't been this bad for about 6 years. It has caused numerous cases of heat exhaustion and heat stroke and even deaths across the entire south. Recent news articles have highlighted the the number of deaths and hospitalizations Heatstroke: A Deadly Hazard.
My husband has been one of the sufferers. He works construction and has been outside on rooftops in the past week or so. He came home early one day with severe heat exhaustion symptoms( headache, nausea, and severe muscle cramping) and reluctantly went to work the next day not feeling much better. He said he had blacked out and thankfully fell up the roof and that is when he finally quit working for the day. He had been hydrating himself all day with water and electrolytes and it wasn't enough. See here for details on Heat Exhaustion Signs and Symptoms and some helpful tips on heat related illnesses. We gave him fluids, alfalfa (for the sodium, potassium and magnesium it contains) and put him in a cool tub with Epsom's salts( because they contain sodium and magnesium for the body to absorb) and that helped with the cramping he was feeling all over, but he was still out of it for the entire night.
My dear husband doesn't have the luxury of being able to stay home and recover because he has no sick time, vacation pay or paid days off and I pray for him daily. Since, he is the only breadwinner of the family he continues to press on even after his body says quit. We are trying to do all we can to help him relax and cool of when he comes home.
Any suggestions for beating the heat, when you have to work out in it are greatly appreciated.
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