Residents Encouraged to Drink More Water and Less Alcohol to Prevent Dehydration

This summer is proving to be an extremely hot one with heat warnings being issued quite often.

Even this weekend, the heat index is expected to reach a potentially hazardous 122°F, while temperatures are projected to reach a scorching 95°F.

As a result, an excessive heat warning was issued for Antigua and Barbuda between the hours of 7:30 am to 6:30 pm Friday until Sunday.

Rapid rises in heat gain due to exposure to hotter-than-average conditions compromise the body’s ability to regulate temperature and can result in a cascade of illnesses, including heat cramps, heat exhaustion, heatstroke, and hyperthermia.

Sean Samuel, Education Officer for Physical Education and Sports is therefore recommending that residents take certain precautions.

 “Wear light clothing, mainly white, and avoid dark clothing like black because black attracts heat,” he urged.

“Stay as much as you possibly can in the shade. If you have to be outside tried not to be more than 10 to 15 minutes directly in the sun,” he also suggested while speaking to Observer.

He went on to emphasize the importance of drinking water saying “you have to hydrate; you have to drink water… small doses right through the day.”

Samuel said that even persons who will be in air-conditioned spaces should “remember that you’re losing fluid from the a/c as well so if you normally would drink one bottle you probably want to double up and have two.”

And with this perhaps being one of the busiest seasons for bars and liquor stores, Samuel is reminding the public that alcohol also causes dehydration.

“I would advise anybody to really not consume any alcohol at this time,” he stated

Sources say that heat waves kill more people annually in the U.S. than hurricanes, lightning, tornadoes, floods, and earthquakes combined.

 A 2003 heat wave in Europe is estimated to have caused up to 70,000 deaths.