by Suff » 26 Jul 2018, 20:33
I know it's stupid and it is nanny state and they sound like a bunch of teachers lecturing children. I would be saying exactly the same thing if not for one thing.
In the Aquitaine area of France, in 2003, in August, the French went on holiday. As they do every year. They left behind their parents and grandparents as they did every year.
2003 was punishing. The summer was right on top of a monster solar maximum, the weather was clear, extremely hot and, worst of all, it did not cool at night. Night time temps were at 29C well into 3am.
The final toll was 15,000 to 19,000 dead in August alone. Total heat prostration, the skeleton holiday services could not keep up and the old people had no idea how to cool themselves off.
There are good pieces of advice to give. But I almost never see them. Open windows, yes, great, but not when it's 35C outside and 25C inside. That is just damned stupid. Open them at night, all night. You can get over bug bites with cream, heat prostration is a lot worse. Shut the things in the morning and keep the heat out. Blinds, yes, blackout if you can manage it. White blackout, not black, because it reflects heat and does not transmit it into the room.
Take a shower, don't towel off, stand in front of the fan, soaking wet, till the water dries. Repeat until cool enough.
Drink water. Still water. Not coke, absolutely not beer or spirits and not fizzy drinks.
When you go to the loo have a look at the urine. If it is very dark and smelly, drink still water until it becomes clear again.
Wear sandals if you can. Go to work (as I did today) with comfortable clothes for travelling home. I packed shorts and a sleeveless sports shirt for the return journey, I was already wearing sandals. Without socks please.
If you absolutely insist in going out in the middle of the day and blasting yourself with sun, drink water and Take 3 Time the normal Salt intake you normally have. Sweat is salty, lick it and see.
Seen any of that advice around recently???
I doubt it.
But with another month of pretty hot weather forecast to remain, it is about time we British wised up a bit about how to survive in a hot climate. Spending 2 weeks in Magaluf, getting drunk and spending all day sleeping it off is not a template for living and working in these temperatures.
There are 10 types of people in the world:
Those who understand Binary and those who do not.
