Editor:
I once spent 11 years in a hot country where the temperatures regularly hit 40 C-plus.
There was no such thing as air conditioning. Warnings always went out about the dangers concerning the very young and the elderly and, yes, people succumbed to the heat.
We learned the rules:
• Stay indoors and drink lots of water;
• Open your windows and patio doors but keep your drapes/blinds closed. This allows air circulation, but cuts the heat coming through the glass.
• Wear hats to protect the head and stay in the shade;
• Fill a basin with ice cubes and water and soak face cloths in it. When needed, wring out the cold cloths and apply them to the back of the neck to cool down.
• Run cold water over your wrists when over-heated. Wrists, neck and feet are pulse points.
• Fill the bath with enough cold water to cover the ankles, sit on the side and soak your feet until your body cools;
• Take cool showers, not cold. Applying cold water to an over-heated body can cause heart shock.
Simple rules, but effective. This heat wave may be over, but others will come.
The government gave a great deal of attention to COVID, but did nothing to advise people about what to do to help them survive extreme temperatures.
Please, help spread the word.
Pat Patton, White Rock
