Tips for keeping cool in the hot weather?

[speak]

It's been extremely warm and humid up here in the northeast these past couple weeks. My emt pants and shirt make the weather more difficult to deal with. What do you guys and girls do to stay cool in this weather? Is there a certain brand that makes a set of emt pants that are more breathable that help make warm weather more bearable?

[Michael]

Avoid sweets. Yeah, I know, that violates all the ads we see; the truth does that sometimes. No, I don't have a biochemical 'splanation; I just invite you to try it for a few days. Same goes for meat.

[FL_Medic]

It's been extremely warm and humid up here in the northeast these past couple weeks. My emt pants and shirt make the weather more difficult to deal with. What do you guys and girls do to stay cool in this weather? Is there a certain brand that makes a set of emt pants that are more breathable that help make warm weather more bearable?

come work down in florida for the day.

[Ridryder 911]

Yeah it is a 104 degrees in the shade with the humidity of 38% here... gotta love it... !

As well they say.. avoid caffeine (makes you sweat more)

I usually fill those little bio-hazard bags (like ER uses for lab specimens) with crushed ice, and tape a towel around it.. it helps during a hot call...

Keep a small ice chest, with block ice and cold water..

Those cold neck wraps, I have heard are nice as well....

R/r 911

[akroeze]

It was 47C with Humidex yesterday here (116.6F for you American types)!

That was... brutal. Especially consider it was 37 (98.6) without the humidex!

[emtkelley]

I worked in a factory once and my supervisor used to wear long sleeve shirts with an white undershirt underneath. We were talking one day and he said it acts like a personal air conditioner when he sweats. I wear a white tshirt under my shirts I wear in the kitchen where I work as a prep cook and it keeps me somewhat cool. I have also done this with my uniform shirts and it feels so much better having white cotton between my skin and a polyester blend shirt.

As for the pants, I saw in Galls.com where they have a thong for us women in uniform. If you don't like the butt floss feel (I don't care for it but thought I would mention it anyway) the white cotton underwear theory works well for me.

I believe it was Dust who said he doesn't even wear EMS boots. He wears a type of no skid black shoe that works best for him. If you do a search for EMS boots, you will most likely find his post there. Walmart also has white sox (I believe they are the diabetic sox) also that are nice and cool for these temps.

It's an incinerator here in IL as well and we are looking forward to cooler temps tomarrow. I will never complain about the winters here again!

[AnatomyChick]

I always wear Long Sleeves, and some sort of T-Shirt underneath... believe it or not, it does (usually) wick heat away... however, nothing helps when you're out on a call ... on pavement.... with a head indicies of 110 F.

[Nate]

I can print you guys some custom thongs.

I just make sure I drink a lot of water, bring an extra uniform (for night), and try to enjoy the AC when I have it. If you feel yourself getting to hot, go out of service and cool down. Your no use if you become a patient yourself. :wink:

We have some guys wearing that underarmor stuff, they say they are actually hotter with it on once the temps and humidity start climbing here in Houston.

[Just Plain Ruff]

I have one sure fire way to deal with the heat

Go to the North pole and sit on the Ice

[AZCEP]

From the desert Southwest, very few things actually help during severe heat.

When the boots melt to the asphalt, and helicopter skids sink into concrete, you can have ice water running down your back, and you will still be hot.

The under armour type clothing helps when the humidity is less than 20%, after that the evaporative quality is severly limited. Cotton undergarments get drenched with sweat, and you actually feel hotter than usual. The cooling that you feel is the wet cloth attempting to evaporate. The long sleeves helps to insulate your body against the radiant heat, not so much the thermal conditions. Every little bit helps though.

The neck wraps are a good short term fix. Anything over about 20-25 minutes, and they start to warm up.

Keep yourself hydrated, keep some cold packs at hand, maintain due vigilence of how hot you are getting, and remove yourself from the environment as quickly as possible. When you are on scene, remember that your patient has been there for a while before you got there, and they will have some of the same issues.