There were two heat-related emergencies Wednesday, according to Trinity Regional Health System and with the temperatures rising, everyone’s looking for ways to cool off, including some seniors who found a creative way to do just that.
“Dear Lord, we need rain.”
But, this one group settled for snowflakes at the Center for Active Seniors in Davenport.
Keith Bonnstetter, who’s a teacher from Bettendorf, leads a class in making the holiday decorations out of paper and scissors.
“It’s nice that we’re in this nice air-conditioning today,” said Bonnstetter.
It was a chance for the seniors to get together out of the hot sun.
“Hottest day of the year is what I think it’ll be,” he said. “It makes us think about winter and the coolness that’s going to happen, right?”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults over the age of 65 are more prone to heat stress because they:
– don’t adjust as quickly to sudden changes in temperature.
– are more likely to have a chronic medical condition that prevents the proper adjustment to temperature.
– are likely to take medications that inhibit the body’s ability to sweat.
If you’re caring for someone who’s elderly:
Be sure to check in on them twice a day to make sure they’re not showing signs of heat exhaustion. Also, encourage them to drink more liquids, like water and keep them in the air conditioning.
If signs of heat exhaustion, like nausea, dizziness or vomiting last for more than 30 minutes, get to a doctor because it doesn’t take long for heat exhaustion to turn into heat stroke.