Please review these tips on keeping cool from the Safety Committee at the WA Division of Vocational Rehabilitation headquarters
Today will start the beginning of a weather watch in Western Washington for high temperature. There are some items you can do to help you, your family, pets, and co-workers during this time.
- Please close the blinds in your office and house, this will help your house and office stay cool and the HVAC will not have to over work to cool the building. If others are out, please close the blinds in their area for them as many offices are not fully staffed daily. These maybe good days to be in the office for the AC.
- Close outer doors and windows before the heat starts.
- Bring animals inside your home if they are unable to cool down outside.
- Do not walk your animals on black top or cement paths. Walking should be done in the early or late hours during this heat wave.
- Change out the water for your animals, place ice in water if the water gets too hot.
- Choose to eat cold meals to avoid adding heat to your space.
- Microwaves will be a good alternate to the stove or oven.
- BBQ outside in the shade, remember it is going to be warm out there close to the BBQ.
- Drink water, avoid dinking to many energy drinks, water is always the way to hydrate. You can add some hydration drinks if you feel you just can not ingest enough water.
- Realize your ice machine could be working very hard and slower than usual.
- Ice may not be available at your local store.
- There could be “brown outs”, this is when the electrical grid is overtaxed. Be prepared with batteries in your flashlights, charge your phones and your back up batteries.
- Plan to eat perishables quickly should you lose power.
- Exercise should be done early or late in the day to avoid overheating your body.
- Your air conditioning may not work as well as usual, the gyms maybe overtaxed as well.
- A mall/ library/coffee shop maybe a good place to stay cool if your house is just too warm.
- Lakes, ponds, and rivers are still cold, DO NOT trust the heat has warmed the water yet. It does take a few days of high heat temperatures to bring the water temperature up to a healthy level for use. Watch your children around these areas, they can get hypothermia very quickly even in the heat. Pools and water parks could be crowded but a better choice for water fun at this time.
- Do not leave children, elderly or animals in cars even if the widows are rolled down. Temperatures in cars/trucks/vans double quickly once the AC is off.
- Elderly and ill individuals will be very susceptible to the heat, EMS will be busy and the times for response could be affected due to this.
- Put sun block on your family and yourself, reapply often. Animal can also burn be aware of your animal’s shade.
- Avoid placing ice directly on skin, this will burn and kill healthy skin. If you burn use cold water to relieve the burn pain.
- Wear sunglasses to avoid eye issues and glare from windows and water.
- While it has rained, burning should be kept to a minimum as grasses will dry out quickly. Be aware this could be the start of the wildfire season.
- Make sure your motorized equipment you use at home, work properly, and do not send out sparks.
- Do not dump BBQ embers in the woods. Store them in a metal container until they are completely cold and dispose of them properly.
This is not everything you can do to be during this heat wave; you can google other ideas. Stay safe out there as we get our first taste of summer.
