BALTIMORE — Maryland is starting to see some of the hottest days of the year and a lot of humidity with it. Experts say when we have a combination of the two, it can be dangerous outdoors.
“Your body doesn’t know the difference just because you look outside and a thermometer says that it’s 95 degrees; your body is feeling that 111 degrees, and that is what the humidity does to us: it makes our body behave as though its 111 degrees instead," said Dr. Rachel Mallalieu, Emergency Medicine physician with the University of Maryland Baltimore Washington Medical Center.
If you plan on spending a large amount of time outside, you need to prepare before you go out so you don't get sick.
“You need to pre-hydrate, and so you need to ensure that your hydration is top before you come out. Another thing is you need to ease into getting your body used to the weather," says Anna Duncan.
Make sure you know the symptoms in case you start to overheat; if you don't know them, you can die.
“If you start to feel really excessively tired, if you start to feel nauseated, or you throw up, if you start to get an extreme headache, if you start to get lightheaded or god forbid, if you do faint, those are warning symptoms that you immediately need to get inside," says Dr. Mallalieu
Duncan says she knows exactly when she needs to escape the heat, she has learned her body’s warning signs.
“So, I'm a real sweaty person, which is really attractive, I know, so I'm very moist always, so with me, it's whenever I stop sweating or whenever I get cold," she said.
Knowing how your body reacts to heat can be the difference between life and death.
If you don’t have access to air conditioning, the cooling centers are open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
