Florida Heat-Related Illnesses Entering Dangerous Territory
Florida always gets really hot in the summer months, but this year is especially brutal. In Florida, heat-related illnesses are entering dangerous territory, according to experts, so it’s important to stay aware of how hot it’s getting in your area. It’s not just our state, either. July brought a few of the hottest days on record for the Earth, according to the European Union’s Copernicus Climate Change Service (C3S). A separate study published also discovered that the summer of 2023 was the hottest summer on record in 2,000 years. Experts warn that it’s only going to get hotter, too.
Florida Heat-Related Illnesses Entering Dangerous Territory
According to the latest report from the nonprofit Florida Policy Institute, Florida has the largest number of heat-related illnesses in the country. Between 2018 and 2022, the report states that Florida had 31,011 emergency room visits and hospitalizations, using research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). “While sunshine and warm weather draw Florida visitors and residents alike, excessive heat is a looming threat to the nearly half a million Floridians who work outdoors,” they state in the report. They add that roughly 490,710 Floridians work in outdoor jobs, making it extra important to make sure these workers don’t get overheated in the dangerously warm weather.
If you’re wondering, the term heat-related illness (HRI) “is an umbrella term for people’s different responses when their bodies cannot regulate internal temperature and cool down,” the report explains. That can be everything from a heat rash to heat exhaustion to heat stroke. You can actually die from some of these heat-related illnesses, so it’s important to stay safe. Heat stroke is the most severe form of such an illness and is considered a medical emergency. Symptoms of heat stroke include a high body temperature of 103°F or higher; headache; dizziness; nausea; confusion; a fast, strong pulse; hot, red, dry or damp skin; and passing out. Some tips if someone is possibly having a heat stroke are to call 911, move the person to a cooler place, try to bring down the person’s temperature with cool cloths or a cool bath and also not give the person anything to drink, per the CDC. That last one might not seem intuitive, but it’s true. It’s easy to think of summer heat as just being a nuisance, but it can really cause these life-threatening conditions, so be careful. I always have to be more careful when working out during the summer months, but even just being outside in these conditions can be dangerous.
