With summer just around the corner things are going to start heating up around here – hurrah I hear you say, however be warned, summer can be a particularly dangerous time of the year, especially for the elderly and young children. The Water Cooler Company wants everyone to ensure they stay safe this summer and remember to keep hydrated! Here are some summer survival tips:
Use sunscreen and cover up
If you are outside you should be wearing suncreen a shirt, a hat and sunglasses.
Stay in the shade
Between 11am and 3pm the sun is at its most dangerous, during this time if you are outside you should carry an umbrella for shade and try to sit under trees. The best advice is to stay indoors between these times.
Drink plenty of water
The normal recommended daily intake of fluid is8 glasses per day, you may find yourself having to drink more water during particularly hot days.
Ventilate your home
Keep windows open all day and all night and use fans. This is particularly important at night, when the body cools down.
Look after the elderly and children
Older people and children are the most suseptable to the heat, ensure they drink plenty of fluids, a mixture of drinks including tea, fruit juice and water. A good way to check if children are drinking enough is to check that they are passing urine regularly and that it is not too dark. Babies must be kept out of the sun.
Avoid excessive physical exertion
If you are doing physical exercise you need to drink half a litre of fluid at least half an hour beforehand and continue to replenish your fluids after exercising.
Be sensible with alcohol
Everyone loves a drink out in the sunshine, however you should know hot weather speeds up the effects of alcohol so take carewhen drinking. Alcohol will lead to dehydration so make sure that you alternate alcoholic drinks with water or fruit juice.
Keep cool at work
During a heatwave the office is often the coolest place to be. If you haven’t got air conditioning, use the fans and keep the windows open. Avoid working in direct sunlight and take plenty of breaks during the day to fill up your water bottle at the office water cooler and cool down.
