State to Modify Heat Warnings
New information about heat-related hospital visits has public health officials modifying their heat wave warnings.
Posted — UpdatedHeat-related warnings issued by the state usually focus protecting the elderly and young children, but data collected during a recent heat wave shows people who work outside also are at great risk of suffering heat-related illnesses, officials said.
The North Carolina Disease Event Tracking and Epidemiologic Collection Tool, or NC-DETECT, found that 15- to 19-year-olds and 25- to 44-year-olds had the highest rate of heat-related emergency room visits during the Aug. 4-10 heat wave. Health officials said overheating among those people was probably the result of exertion during outdoors work or exercise.
"We need to talk to those people in our warnings and tell them that they can become sick as a result of excessive heat," Dr. Leah Devlin, state health director, said in a statement. "In particular, they need to watch their exertion level and remain hydrated. In the future, we'll be talking to those people as well as the frail elderly and folks who care for the very young."
NC-DETECT monitors 104 of the state's 111 round-the-clock hospital emergency departments.
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