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Video: Duluth's Deputy Chief of Life Safety offers advice ahead of hot weekend

Jun 04, 2021 05:28AM ● By Editor

Watch the WDIO-TV Report here

From WDIO-TV - June 3, 2021

With high temperatures expected this weekend in the Northland, the Deputy Chief of Life Safety at the Duluth Fire Department, Jon Otis, offered advice to help people avoid heat stress.

"The biggest concern is just taking care of yourself," said Otis. "You want to pay attention to your body, how it feels."

Otis said to pay attention for cramps, loss of concentration, abnormal chills, and a lack of sweat.

“Perspiring is the body's way of regulating temperature, so if you stop perspiring that’s a big warning sign," explained Otis.

Otis advised people hydrate, where light clothes that cover them up, take breaks from the sun, and generally work and do things at a slower pace to help alleviate heat stress and to prevent worse conditions like a heat stroke.

Otis also said to help those in more vulnerable positions, like the elderly, children, and pets, follow those rules as well.

He went on to say that children and pets being left in vehicles without ventilation and A/C is an unfortunate practice he’s seen repeated in the heat.

"There are a number of incidents nationwide, where a child or a pet are inadvertently left in a vehicle.  Unfortunately those cases can become deadly and they can become deadly quite quickly," he explained. "Typically, the body will start to shut down due to overheating around 104 degrees, the body can't regulate its temperature above that and around 107 degrees for a core temperature becomes fatal.”

Otis further elaborated that children and animals small bodies make it much easier for their core temperature to climb quickly.

If a child or animal is lethargic and non-responsive, Otis said they need to be removed from the car and emergency medical personnel need to be called immediately. 


To see the original report and read related stories, follow this link to the WDIO-TV website. https://www.wdio.com/duluth-minnesota-news/deputy-chief-of-life-safety-hot-weekend/6130361/
 

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