WARNING: You're probably not drinking enough water before you go outside
"With the heat reaching the triple digit mark we're encouraging people to be mindful as they go outside." Bryan Fitzpatrick with Austin Travis County EMS (ATCEMS) says it's better to plan outdoor activities in the early morning or late evening hours.
Since last Friday they've responded to 32 heat related incidences.
The number of patients they saw is unknown-- but that's the amount of calls they received in the last week. "With the heat, it's not going to give us a break anytime soon. Summer's just beginning for us. We want to get in front of this and tell people to be mindful."
Fitzpatrick says if you have to go out in the sun, wear lightweight clothes and take frequent breaks from direct sunlight. Stay in the cool when you can, and try to really limit your activities.
"If you're going to go out, bring lots of water, stay hydrated it's really important."
Austin Travis County EMS says the number one misconception people have about being out in the heat, is about water intake. People underestimate how much h-2-o you actually need to drink to stay hydrated. They advise you drink two to four ounces of water, each hour you're outside.
Not drinking enough water, can lead possible to life threatening issues. "Sure the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke is the difference in your change of mentation. Once you cross the border into heat stroke, you notice a different mentation with the individual. You start talking funny, you'll notice some of the decisions you make aren't the right decisions."
ATCEMS encourages people not to leave pets or small children in vehicles, and to pay close attention to the elderly and babies around this time of year.
Here's how to tell if a child is experiencing heat exhaustion: "More irritability than normal, excessive redness, excessive sweating, and as far as heat stroke goes in a child the symptoms we look at there is basically the baby doesn't move at all."
Officials want folks to know if someone experiences heat exhaustion-- there are a number of things you can do. Here’s the difference between heat exhaustion and heat stroke: