Take precautions against heat-related illness as temps rise

While her children play at the Kids Together playground in Cary, she keeps a watchful eye out for signs of overheating.

“Making sure they don’t get too flush in the face,” she said Wednesday. “When their cheeks get kind of red, that’s kind of a telltale.”

Bocciardi says she's always mindful of the time of day.

“A lot of the times, we plan around doing early-morning activities or we’ll do later-in-the-afternoon activities and make sure everyone has a water bottle all the time,” she said.

Children aren't the only ones susceptible to heat exhaustion. Those who work outside say they don’t mess around when it comes the heat.

Ron Adams, of Baker Roofing Co. in Raleigh, said it typically takes workers 10 days to become acclimated to changing temperatures.

“In the summertime, we change out operating hours in that we go to work earlier in the day – 5 or 5:30 – and try to get down off the roof by 1 o’clock, before the heat of the day,” he said.

Dr. Michael Soboeiro of WakeMed says no matter age or occupation, a good rule of thumb is to drink four times the amount of fluids in the summer than normally consumed during other times of the year.

And what people drink is just as important as how often they drink.

“Water is the main thing we recommend for hydration,” he said. “Sports drinks add a little bit of salt and a little bit of sugar, which helps us to absorb the water, but the real key is the fluid and the water intake.”

Soboeiro also urged people to be mindful of children and the elderly, two age groups that are more susceptible to heat-related health issues.