Summer: it’s the season of sun and fun. It can be the most relaxing and enjoyable time to be a kid: lying around the pool, frolicking at the park. But the same sun that makes the summer so wonderful also poses risks.
Parents and children need to be aware of the dangers of heat exhaustion, heat stroke and just simple overexposure resulting in sunburn.
"Every summer, we see children in the emergency room who have simply overdone it in the sun," says Laura Fitzmaurice, MD, chief of Emergency Medicine at Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics. "This is a great time of year, but parents and children need to be careful."
Heat exhaustion usually develops after exercise, and causes a drop in blood pressure while body temperature remains near normal. Symptoms of heat exhaustion include: weakness, nausea, cramps and fainting. To counteract, Children’s Mercy specialists recommend lying down, resting out of the sun in a cool place, and drinking plenty of liquids.
Heat stroke, on the other hand, occurs when the body’s cooling system can’t combat high temperatures. Symptoms include: extremely high body temperature (104 degrees or higher), chills, dry skin, nausea, dizziness and confusion.
Left untreated, heatstroke can cause permanent damage and possibly death.
If heat stroke occurs, call for emergency medical help, administer a cool bath to counteract the body’s inability to sweat. While waiting for help to arrive, because the body can’t sweat.
The following tips are offered to keep babies cool on hot days:
- Dress babies in light clothes.
- Use air conditioning or circulate air with a fan if possible.
- Keep babies out of the sun. Babies younger than six months should never be in direct sunlight.
- Give babies a cool bath
- Powder is not recommended. If powder is used, carefully apply to the baby so they don’t inhale it, which can lead to pneumonia.
- Never leave a baby (or anyone) in an automobile on a hot day. If it’s 90 degrees outside, the temperature inside the car can reach 120 degrees or more in only 10 minutes.
- Do not substitute water or juice for baby formula. Babies need all of their formula. You may need to provide additional fluids on hot days, which can include juices and water.