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Community Corner

Hot Enough For You?

Athens Bakes This Summer, As Never Before

Heat advisory! Drought warning! Smog alert! Welcome to the Dog Days of Summer in Georgia. And consider this:  the first three weeks of the current season have been the hottest on record in Athens. So take a little comfort in knowing that your discomfort is far from imaginary.

Some people manage heat better than others, either through using more common sense (e.g., staying sufficiently hydrated, staying indoors to the greatest extent possible, etc.) or through the good fortune of not needing to be outdoors for extended periods. Those who either treat hot weather with a lack of respect or have no option but to be outside working are on a slippery slope.

The dangers associated with exposure to heat are real but not entirely understood. This is one reason the University of Georgia’s Kinesiology Department is wrapping up a multi-year study of some 2,500 football players at 25 high schools around the state, examining the ways hot, humid conditions can lead to heat illness in athletes. The research, directed by Dr. Mike Ferrara and Dr. Bud Cooper, should have application beyond the playing field, benefitting some of the thousands of working people in Georgia whose jobs require that they be outside in all conditions.

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Ferrara points to two crucial steps in avoiding a heat-related illness: (a) taking frequent breaks to allow the body time to cool itself and recover and (b) keeping adequately hydrated. “The key is prevention,” he stresses. “But if you do start not feeling well, get yourself some help. The onset of a headache and lethargy is the sign of a heat illness coming on.”

According to Jim Corley, Director of the Athens-Clarke County Solid Waste Department, sanitation workers have limited ways of dealing with hot weather. “We provide all of our crews with coolers and have an ice machine they use,” he said, “and we provide packets of PowerAde to mix in the water. We also encourage them to take more breaks than normal. These guys typically bust through the day as quickly as they can, but we just tell them to slow it down and take it easy when it’s this hot.”

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Corley isn’t aware of any heat-related medical problems among his sanitation crews and reports that no one has had to leave a shift early yet this summer. The earliest work can begin is 7:00 a.m. each day, and in this weather just about every A-CC crew is on the job by that time.

David Daniel, owner of Bona Fide Construction, doesn’t like weather this hot but also says he’s experienced worse. “Honestly, I don’t think this summer has been as bad as a few years ago, when we had the terrible drought conditions,” Daniel said. “That summer it just didn’t rain at all and never cooled off. Of course right now it’s only the middle of July.”

According to Daniel, that the kind of heat we’re experiencing is especially bad for those doing roofing work and also for the roofs themselves. “So we start at daylight and won’t go past noon or 1:00 p.m. when doing roofing,” he said. “Obviously the guys have to really stay hydrated and they all have coolers and chests of ice and they need that. Luckily, we’ve never had anyone have a problem with heat exhaustion. And since we do a lot of inside work as well, we try to focus on that as much as possible when it’s this hot.”

Beyond high school football players and those whose work demands that they be outside, many of us continue running, cycling, walking and various other activities even on the hottest days. The best basic advice is to stay hydrated, take frequent breaks, and don’t push too hard. Also, remind yourself that things could be worse:  we could be living in Oklahoma City, where it’s been above 100 no fewer than 21 days this summer…so far.

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