Tips to stay safe during the heat wave

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - It’s hot, hot, hot and it is expected to become even hotter as the summer months continue. News 11 spoke with the Emergency Management Service and the Fire Department in the Queen City about some tips to stay safe during this heat wave.

During the summer months, Metro Ambulance said they usually see an uptick in calls dealing with heat exhaustion.

“During the summer period, we usually have several hundred. We are starting to see more and more because of the humidity rising and the temperatures. We are already having temperatures in the early 90s,” said Metro Ambulance Education Manager, John Beard.

Metro Ambulance wants to give our viewers, some things to look out for when someone may be suffering from heat exhaustion.

“If they are not perspiring as much as they were that’s a sign, but usually the first thing that is going to alter is their mental status. They may act confused or say something that doesn’t quite make sense or start looking around like they are having trouble focusing,” said Beard.

The ambulance service also has some suggestions to avoid heat exhaustion.

“We don’t recommend that if you don’t have to be out in the heat to not. Stay in front of the fan or the air conditioner go to your family that does. The people that do exert themselves. Be careful, take frequent breaks, and have a lot of fluids,” said Beard.

Especially during the summer months, the Meridian Fire Chief wants to remind viewers that it is illegal to start open burns in the city.

“Basically, if you’re a municipality with so much of a population, you are not allowed to have open burning because of the air quality act and so that kind of did it for us because of the population, because of so many people in so many square miles. If everyone decided to burn at once would be too much smoke and damage the air quality,” said Meridian Fire Chief, Jason Collier.

Even though open burns within the city are prohibited, people living in the county can perform open burns.

Fire Chief Collier does want residents of the county to keep a check on when burn bans are issued.

“Based on the weather if we haven’t had rain in a certain number of days, if the conditions are dry, or if weather conditions are windy then the fire coordinator for Lauderdale County, which is Alan Dover, or for the state, he can decide if these counties or the entire state is under a burn ban. They announce that through the media,” said Collier.

This heat is expected to stick around so remember to stay hydrated and stay inside when you can.

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