Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Stay safe from heat as the sizzling Las Vegas summer begins

Triple Digit Temperatures in Las Vegas

Christopher DeVargas

A man cools off in a water mister near Paris Las Vegas on the Strip, Monday, June 14, 2021. An excessive heat warning is in effect through 9 p.m. Saturday for Southern Nevada.

Triple Digit Temperatures in Las Vegas

2-year-old Alyza Verdugo plays at a splash pad at Mission Hills Park in Henderson, Monday June 14, 2021. An excessive heat wave warning has been issued for Las Vegas through Saturday June 19th. Launch slideshow »

Workers painting the exterior of Centennial Hill Hospital this week will arrive on the job site at the crack of dawn to get started.

The goal is simple: Conclude the shift around 1 p.m., just when the Las Vegas heat will be at its peak for the day.

The instructions are also simple: Stay safe from the elements, even if it means not completing all of the tasks for the day, said Eunice Diestro, a project manager with SR Construction, a Las Vegas contractor handling the hospital renovations and expansion.

The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning through 9 p.m. Saturday for Southern Nevada, portions of northwest Arizona and southeast California. The service projects the high temperature today will reach 116 degrees, which would establish a new record high for the valley. The previous high for June 16 was 114 degrees in 1940.

The forecast has many in the area on guard.

Clark County has launched cooling stations throughout the valley, groups working with the homeless population are stocking up on water and preparing cooling shelters, youth activities have been canceled, and many have altered plans to only leave the house in the morning or evenings, when it’s not as hot.

Those who will be in the heat are also making accommodations.

CDC tips

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued heat safety tips. They include:

— Stay hydrated. In addition to drinking plenty of water, avoid alcoholic drinks, caffeine or those high in sugar. Also, don’t have a heavy meal before leaving the house.

— Wear sunscreen. Sunburn affects your body’s ability to cool down and can make you dehydrated. Use sunscreen of SPF 15 or higher 30 minutes prior to going out. Continue to reapply it according to the package directions.

— Be smart. Schedule outdoor activities when it is the coolest, or simply cancel them. Rest in shady areas. When outside, wear lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing.

— Watch out for your neighbor. Check on elderly family and neighbors, and do so multiple times a day. Those 65 and older are more at risk of heat illness.

— While inside: To maintain a cooler temperature in your home, use your stove less often. Electric fans will provide comfort, but with temperatures over 100 degrees, they won’t stop heat-related illness. Cool off with a cold shower.

— What if my air conditioner gives out? If your home does not have air conditioning, go to the shopping mall or public library — even a few hours spent in air conditioning can help your body stay cooler when you go back into the heat. You can also seek refuge at one of the Clark County cooling stations.

— Use the buddy system. When working outside, monitor the condition of your co-workers and have someone do the same for you.

— Keep an eye on children, pets. Do not leave children or pets in a vehicle. Cars can heat to dangerous temperatures, even with the windows cracked.

Take SR Construction, whose morning briefing to workers includes heat stroke warning signs. It has a tent set up at each job site for workers to take reprieve from the sun — and not only when they feel the impact of the elements. All workers are required to take all breaks in the shade.

“You don’t want to assume someone is used to the heat, because that’s when it gets dangerous,” Diestro said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued tips for preventing heat-related illness, stressing the importance of staying hydrated and indoors. And when outside, the CDC suggested wearing lightweight, light-colored, loose-fitting clothing.

Other pointers: Wear sunscreen, and lots of it; drink plenty of fluids, and avoid sugary drinks and alcohol; when outside, pace yourself; know the warning signs of heat illness. Those, according to the CDC, include: overheating, throbbing headache, confusion, fever, blurred vision, dizziness and more.

Dr. Paul Chestovich, an assistant professor in the Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at UNLV Department of Surgery, is direct is his warning: “When you have heat stroke, your body’s cooling system shuts down. That’s life-threatening,” he said.

Burn center doctors such as Chestovich are warning of injuries from contact with super-heated roadways and other surfaces. Chestovich said the temperature on rocks and pavement will be 160 to 170 degrees, meaning they can cause second- or third-degree burns in less than a minute.

Those injuries are most common in children ages 1 and 2 who are able to walk but can’t quite process how hot the ground is, he said. They are also common in older adults and those with diabetes, who faint because of the heat and are unconscious on the hot pavement. The pavement is hottest between 2 p.m. and 4 p.m., he said.

“It’s really the little kids who don’t know what to do,” he said.

When exposed to a skin burn, Chestovich says to first get into indoors to a cool environment, and clean off the exposed skin tissue. If severe, seek immediate medical attention.

At the Lions Burn Care Center at University Medical Center, injuries from hot pavement are so common that staff call the summer months “pavement burn season,” the center’s medical director said. In all, 13% of the serious burn injuries seen at the burn care center come from hot pavement.

“It is a significant part of our population,” said Dr. Syed Saquib, who has co-authored several medical journal reports on burns in desert climates.

According to an April medical journal report co-authored by Saquib, pavement burns are often severe, and require longer hospital stays and greater need for surgeries.

That’s because the people who are hurt often are unable to get up off the superheated pavement because they collapsed from dehydration, heat stroke or another medical condition, or because they are intoxicated.

Officials have established 10 public cooling stations at various parts of the valley, including four near downtown Las Vegas, where many in the homeless population congregate.

One of those stations is at Catholic Charities of Southern Nevada, which can accommodate up to 210 people, spokesperson Leslie Carmine said. There’s cool air circulation, bottles of water, and most important, reprieve from the direct sun.

“We get a pretty steady crowd,” Carmine said. “It’s dangerous out there without a place to seek refuge.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.