By Alicia Cruz
New Jersey Newsroom
Picture it: New Jersey 2010. It's another week of hot weather with temperatures soaring to 100 degrees, but it feels like 140 with the humidity. It's so hot, you could swear you saw the devil catching a cab on Kennedy Boulevard. You're stuck in or outdoors and there isn't a Freon based cooling device within reach. What to do?
Fret no more, The Black Urban Times has a few tips on how to survive these dog day summer temperatures.
Crank up Those Fans: Ceiling fans and electric fans help a lot during heat waves. If you can put one in every room, the more the cooler. If you're sitting in one room place your fans in opposite directions so that they cool the air more efficiently. If you have two electric fans and a ceiling fan, consider yourself blessed, grab a seat and stay cool. The less you move, the cooler you'll be.
Shades: Close those drapes, shut those blinds and pull those shades. The less sunlight you let in, the cooler you keep the house. It'll make your A/C work less hard too. If you can run a fan in addition to the A/C you wont have to run the A/C high and you'll stay much cooler.
Cold Drinks: This is essential to staying cool on a hotter than the Middle East day. Load your glass or cup with lots of ice and stick with lemonade, sweet tea, water or cranberry juice. Beer will only make you much hotter, trust me. I know it's hotter than the dickens and that Corona (or other spirits) sure look tempting, but you'll regret it. Alcohol tends to dehydrate your body, which will only make you feel four times worse during a heat wave. So save the liquor and beer for the cooler evening hours.
Dress in the Three L's: Lightweight, Light-colored and Loose. All three reflect heat and sunlight, which helps to maintain normal body temperature. Sunlight can heat up the inner core of your body, which can lead to heat exhaustion.
If you're out on the beach or walking along the shore, be sure to cover as much skin as possible to avoid sunburn. Protect your face and head with a wide-brimmed hat or a sun visor to keep the sun off your head and face and invest in some good sunscreen of at least SPF 15.
And eighty-six the socks. It's time for sandals and flip-flops - except in the workplace of course.
Which brings me to: PEDICURE. Let's make sure our feet are sandal pretty. Click here to read about my easy-to-do home pedicure.
Use as Little Heat as Possible: This includes showers and baths. With tough times upon all of us, not everyone can afford to eat out, which calls for cold cuts, cold pasta and tuna fish. Avoid high-protein foods. Lightening your menu will save you from passing out in the kitchen trying to make a full course, hot meal and it'll help you keep your house cooler.
Use your microwave whenever possible. Cooking and baking will only make your house feel like an oven. So whip out the cold cuts, bread, mayo, gray pupa, lettuce and tomatoes.
Keeping Children Cool: With school out, the children are home all day unless they're in summer camp. Help them stay cool with frozen, healthy treats. Toss those cherries, grapes or strawberries in the freezer and let them snack on those before dinner or after lunch. You can buy 50 Popsicles from the Dollar Tree and stick those in the freezer for cool-down snacks.
Buy Styrofoam cups to fill with Juicy Juice and place them in the freezer. They not only make great ice cool treats, but they're not loaded down with sugar so they're healthy for your little ones. Load up that grocery cart with fruits like cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers and peaches.
Stay Out of The Heat: Let the children play outside in the early morning or early evening when the air quality is at a healthier level and the temperatures are cooler. Head to a local swimming pool or beach to cool off, but never swim alone and be sure to observe all posted swimming advisories. During heat emergencies, New Jersey pools and beaches are open late and offer free or reduced admission.
If you live in a split-level home, stay downstairs. Remember heat rises so upstairs will always be hotter than your living room. Open windows upstairs if you have no air conditioning to keep the room cool and have a fan blowing.
Find a cooling center. During heat emergencies, New Jersey has been known to open cooling centers for the elderly and those without air conditioning at libraries and other buildings through the late evening hours. WABC TV and 7online.com are great sources to keep up with where cooling centers have been opened.
Click HERE to find out about NY cooling centers
and how to survive a New York Heat Wave
If you work outside keep a cool compress wrapped around your head or neck and keep a bottle of water or thermos filled with water handy.
DO NOT OPEN FIRE HYDRANTS
When I was a little girl, we had no air conditioning (that was a luxury in the projects). We played outside for as long as we could to avoid going indoors, but sometimes we just had to get wet, so one of the brothers would whip out their pliers and open a fire hydrant. It was the cheapest and most convenient way for us to get some water action without hoping the bus or train to Orchard or Jones Beaches or Coney Island.
We would manage to get a few hours of play time before the New York City Fire Department or NYPD came along and shut it down. Why? Because it's illegal to open a fire hydrant.
The unauthorized opening of New York City fire hydrants is illegal, and often spikes during heat waves. Opened hydrants lower water pressure, cause problems at hospitals and medical facilities and reduce the flow of water needed to fight fires. Opening a hydrant without a spray cap can result in fines of up to $1000, imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both.
The Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations is deploying extra crews beginning at noon on Saturday to respond to open hydrant complaints. All New Yorkers should call 311 to report open fire hydrants. For more information on HEAT, fire hydrant abuse or DEP, visit nyc.gov/dep.
Assemble a Disaster Kit
These are good for everything from blackouts to hurricanes to white outs. Click here to learn more.
Medical Alert: Extreme heat can kill you. www.disasterservicesandsupplies wants you to know and understand medical terms related to extreme heat illness.
Heat Related Illness
Heat Cramps
Signals
♦ Heavy sweating
♦ Muscle spasms - which are usually painful and usually in the legs or abdominal area.
First Aid
♦ Get the person to a cooler location, out of the sun.
♦ Lightly stretch or gently massage the affected muscles to relieve the spasms.
♦ Rehydrate the person by having him drink sips of cool water, up to half a glass every 15 minutes. (Do not give ice water! The body needs to cool gradually. Do not give liquids with caffeine or alcohol. These can all worsen the situation.)
♦ If the person becomes nauseated, or starts to vomit, discontinue the liquids and get medical attention.
Heat Exhaustion
Signals
♦ Key Words to Remember: Cool, Moist, Pale
♦ The skin will be cool, moist and pale, but may also look flushed at times.
♦ Heavy seating will occur.
♦ The person's temperature may be near normal, but is likely to rise.
♦ Also possible: dizziness or fainting, nausea or vomiting, exhaustion and a headache.
First Aid
♦ Have the person lie down in a cool place, out of the sun.
♦ Loosen or remove tight clothing.
♦ Apply cool wet cloths. You can use towels or bedsheets. Try to use lightweight cloths if possible.
♦ Increase air circulation around the person. Use air conditioning if available, and set the temperature at cool, not cold. Use a fan, or fan the person with a book or newspaper.
♦ Rehydrate the person by having him drink sips of cool water, up to half a glass every 15 minutes. (Do not give ice water! The body needs to cool gradually. Do not give liquids with caffeine or alcohol. These can all worsen the situation.)
♦ If the person becomes nauseated, or starts to vomit, discontinue the liquids and get medical attention immediately.
♦ Let the person rest in a position that is comfortable.
♦ Watch for any changes in his condition. If the situation does not change, or gets worse, get medical attention immediately.
Heat Stroke - A Life Threatening Condition
Signals
♦ High body temperature (105 degrees F plus. Normal body temperature is around 98.6 degrees F).
♦ The skin will be hot, red and dry. The person will stop sweating.
♦ The pulse will be rapid and weak.
♦ breathing will be rapid and shallow.
♦ Watch for changes in consciousness.
First Aid
♦ Call 9-1-1 Immediately! Delay can be fatal. At this stage, the person needs advanced medical attention.
♦ Move the person to a cooler location, out of the sun.
♦ Remove all clothing.
♦ To reduce body temperature, apply wet cloths such as towels or bedsheets. Keep the covering wet with cool water. If available, get the person into a cool tub. Do whatever you can to cool the body and bring down the temperature. (Do not use ice, only cool water. The body is fighting to deal with the heat. It cannot handle a drastic temperature change, from extreme hot to extreme cold.)
♦ Use air conditioning or fans to lower the temperature.
♦ Give the person sips of water only if the person is conscious. If nausea or vomiting occurs, stop giving water.
♦ Keep the person lying down.
♦ Watch for changes in consciousness and in breathing.
♦ If the person passes out (becomes unconscious) and stops breathing, be prepared to give CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation).
Be Prepared For A Summertime Blackout
Flashlights
Keep flashlights on hand. Try to have one in every room or for each person in your family. The Dollar Tree Stores sell these for $1.00 a piece and you can stock up on batteries there too. Candles are not safe, unless you plan on keeping them lit only while you are awake.
Potable Radio or Portable Television
A battery operated radio or television will be quite a blessing during a blackout. You can keep up with power restoration efforts and other things.
Freeze Water, Fill Your Bathtub
Both will be useful for drinking and keeping food cold. You can also bathe and keep cool (compress).
Dry Foods
No power means no cooking. Dry goods: crackers, bread, etc will tide everyone over until power is restored or you’re able to get other food.
Charcoal Grill
During the last power outage in New York City, a lot of residents and restaurant owners fired up their grills to cook food that would have otherwise spoiled. This is perfect for keeping everyone occupied and full and preventing your expensive meat from spoiling.
Telephone Service
If you have your telephone service through your cable company or computer line, you phone will not work in a power outage. Neither will a cordless phone. Cell phones may work, but if the battery runs down, you have no service.
Do NOT call 9-1-1- during a blackout unless you have a medical or police emergency. There isn’t much the operators can do to get your power on so it’s fruitless, not to mention dangerous to tie up their lines with questions about the blackout or power restoration.
Click HERE for more information on how to survive a Blackout
Fret no more, The Black Urban Times has a few tips on how to survive these dog day summer temperatures.
Crank up Those Fans: Ceiling fans and electric fans help a lot during heat waves. If you can put one in every room, the more the cooler. If you're sitting in one room place your fans in opposite directions so that they cool the air more efficiently. If you have two electric fans and a ceiling fan, consider yourself blessed, grab a seat and stay cool. The less you move, the cooler you'll be.
Shades: Close those drapes, shut those blinds and pull those shades. The less sunlight you let in, the cooler you keep the house. It'll make your A/C work less hard too. If you can run a fan in addition to the A/C you wont have to run the A/C high and you'll stay much cooler.
Cold Drinks: This is essential to staying cool on a hotter than the Middle East day. Load your glass or cup with lots of ice and stick with lemonade, sweet tea, water or cranberry juice. Beer will only make you much hotter, trust me. I know it's hotter than the dickens and that Corona (or other spirits) sure look tempting, but you'll regret it. Alcohol tends to dehydrate your body, which will only make you feel four times worse during a heat wave. So save the liquor and beer for the cooler evening hours.
Dress in the Three L's: Lightweight, Light-colored and Loose. All three reflect heat and sunlight, which helps to maintain normal body temperature. Sunlight can heat up the inner core of your body, which can lead to heat exhaustion.
If you're out on the beach or walking along the shore, be sure to cover as much skin as possible to avoid sunburn. Protect your face and head with a wide-brimmed hat or a sun visor to keep the sun off your head and face and invest in some good sunscreen of at least SPF 15.
And eighty-six the socks. It's time for sandals and flip-flops - except in the workplace of course.
Which brings me to: PEDICURE. Let's make sure our feet are sandal pretty. Click here to read about my easy-to-do home pedicure.
Use as Little Heat as Possible: This includes showers and baths. With tough times upon all of us, not everyone can afford to eat out, which calls for cold cuts, cold pasta and tuna fish. Avoid high-protein foods. Lightening your menu will save you from passing out in the kitchen trying to make a full course, hot meal and it'll help you keep your house cooler.
Use your microwave whenever possible. Cooking and baking will only make your house feel like an oven. So whip out the cold cuts, bread, mayo, gray pupa, lettuce and tomatoes.
Keeping Children Cool: With school out, the children are home all day unless they're in summer camp. Help them stay cool with frozen, healthy treats. Toss those cherries, grapes or strawberries in the freezer and let them snack on those before dinner or after lunch. You can buy 50 Popsicles from the Dollar Tree and stick those in the freezer for cool-down snacks.
Buy Styrofoam cups to fill with Juicy Juice and place them in the freezer. They not only make great ice cool treats, but they're not loaded down with sugar so they're healthy for your little ones. Load up that grocery cart with fruits like cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers and peaches.
Stay Out of The Heat: Let the children play outside in the early morning or early evening when the air quality is at a healthier level and the temperatures are cooler. Head to a local swimming pool or beach to cool off, but never swim alone and be sure to observe all posted swimming advisories. During heat emergencies, New Jersey pools and beaches are open late and offer free or reduced admission.
If you live in a split-level home, stay downstairs. Remember heat rises so upstairs will always be hotter than your living room. Open windows upstairs if you have no air conditioning to keep the room cool and have a fan blowing.
Find a cooling center. During heat emergencies, New Jersey has been known to open cooling centers for the elderly and those without air conditioning at libraries and other buildings through the late evening hours. WABC TV and 7online.com are great sources to keep up with where cooling centers have been opened.
Click HERE to find out about NY cooling centers
and how to survive a New York Heat Wave
If you work outside keep a cool compress wrapped around your head or neck and keep a bottle of water or thermos filled with water handy.
DO NOT OPEN FIRE HYDRANTS
When I was a little girl, we had no air conditioning (that was a luxury in the projects). We played outside for as long as we could to avoid going indoors, but sometimes we just had to get wet, so one of the brothers would whip out their pliers and open a fire hydrant. It was the cheapest and most convenient way for us to get some water action without hoping the bus or train to Orchard or Jones Beaches or Coney Island.
We would manage to get a few hours of play time before the New York City Fire Department or NYPD came along and shut it down. Why? Because it's illegal to open a fire hydrant.
The unauthorized opening of New York City fire hydrants is illegal, and often spikes during heat waves. Opened hydrants lower water pressure, cause problems at hospitals and medical facilities and reduce the flow of water needed to fight fires. Opening a hydrant without a spray cap can result in fines of up to $1000, imprisonment for up to 30 days, or both.
The Bureau of Water and Sewer Operations is deploying extra crews beginning at noon on Saturday to respond to open hydrant complaints. All New Yorkers should call 311 to report open fire hydrants. For more information on HEAT, fire hydrant abuse or DEP, visit nyc.gov/dep.
Assemble a Disaster Kit
These are good for everything from blackouts to hurricanes to white outs. Click here to learn more.
Medical Alert: Extreme heat can kill you. www.disasterservicesandsupplies wants you to know and understand medical terms related to extreme heat illness.
Heat Related Illness
Heat Cramps
Signals
♦ Heavy sweating
♦ Muscle spasms - which are usually painful and usually in the legs or abdominal area.
First Aid
♦ Get the person to a cooler location, out of the sun.
♦ Lightly stretch or gently massage the affected muscles to relieve the spasms.
♦ Rehydrate the person by having him drink sips of cool water, up to half a glass every 15 minutes. (Do not give ice water! The body needs to cool gradually. Do not give liquids with caffeine or alcohol. These can all worsen the situation.)
♦ If the person becomes nauseated, or starts to vomit, discontinue the liquids and get medical attention.
Heat Exhaustion
Signals
♦ Key Words to Remember: Cool, Moist, Pale
♦ The skin will be cool, moist and pale, but may also look flushed at times.
♦ Heavy seating will occur.
♦ The person's temperature may be near normal, but is likely to rise.
♦ Also possible: dizziness or fainting, nausea or vomiting, exhaustion and a headache.
First Aid
♦ Have the person lie down in a cool place, out of the sun.
♦ Loosen or remove tight clothing.
♦ Apply cool wet cloths. You can use towels or bedsheets. Try to use lightweight cloths if possible.
♦ Increase air circulation around the person. Use air conditioning if available, and set the temperature at cool, not cold. Use a fan, or fan the person with a book or newspaper.
♦ Rehydrate the person by having him drink sips of cool water, up to half a glass every 15 minutes. (Do not give ice water! The body needs to cool gradually. Do not give liquids with caffeine or alcohol. These can all worsen the situation.)
♦ If the person becomes nauseated, or starts to vomit, discontinue the liquids and get medical attention immediately.
♦ Let the person rest in a position that is comfortable.
♦ Watch for any changes in his condition. If the situation does not change, or gets worse, get medical attention immediately.
Heat Stroke - A Life Threatening Condition
Signals
♦ High body temperature (105 degrees F plus. Normal body temperature is around 98.6 degrees F).
♦ The skin will be hot, red and dry. The person will stop sweating.
♦ The pulse will be rapid and weak.
♦ breathing will be rapid and shallow.
♦ Watch for changes in consciousness.
First Aid
♦ Call 9-1-1 Immediately! Delay can be fatal. At this stage, the person needs advanced medical attention.
♦ Move the person to a cooler location, out of the sun.
♦ Remove all clothing.
♦ To reduce body temperature, apply wet cloths such as towels or bedsheets. Keep the covering wet with cool water. If available, get the person into a cool tub. Do whatever you can to cool the body and bring down the temperature. (Do not use ice, only cool water. The body is fighting to deal with the heat. It cannot handle a drastic temperature change, from extreme hot to extreme cold.)
♦ Use air conditioning or fans to lower the temperature.
♦ Give the person sips of water only if the person is conscious. If nausea or vomiting occurs, stop giving water.
♦ Keep the person lying down.
♦ Watch for changes in consciousness and in breathing.
♦ If the person passes out (becomes unconscious) and stops breathing, be prepared to give CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation).
Be Prepared For A Summertime Blackout
Flashlights
Keep flashlights on hand. Try to have one in every room or for each person in your family. The Dollar Tree Stores sell these for $1.00 a piece and you can stock up on batteries there too. Candles are not safe, unless you plan on keeping them lit only while you are awake.
Potable Radio or Portable Television
A battery operated radio or television will be quite a blessing during a blackout. You can keep up with power restoration efforts and other things.
Freeze Water, Fill Your Bathtub
Both will be useful for drinking and keeping food cold. You can also bathe and keep cool (compress).
Dry Foods
No power means no cooking. Dry goods: crackers, bread, etc will tide everyone over until power is restored or you’re able to get other food.
Charcoal Grill
During the last power outage in New York City, a lot of residents and restaurant owners fired up their grills to cook food that would have otherwise spoiled. This is perfect for keeping everyone occupied and full and preventing your expensive meat from spoiling.
Telephone Service
If you have your telephone service through your cable company or computer line, you phone will not work in a power outage. Neither will a cordless phone. Cell phones may work, but if the battery runs down, you have no service.
Do NOT call 9-1-1- during a blackout unless you have a medical or police emergency. There isn’t much the operators can do to get your power on so it’s fruitless, not to mention dangerous to tie up their lines with questions about the blackout or power restoration.
Click HERE for more information on how to survive a Blackout
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