Excessive Heat Warning Issued Through Friday Evening
CHICAGO (CBS) -- With the heat index expected to climb into triple digits each of the next few days, people who work and play outside will need to take extra precautions to protect themselves from dangerous heat.
The National Weather Service has issued an excessive heat warning for all of Illinois from noon Thursday until 7 p.m. Friday. A heat advisory also has been issued for most of Indiana through Saturday.
Temperatures were expected to reach the mid 90s in Chicago on Thursday and Friday, and the combination of heat and humidity could send the heat index to as high as 115 at times. While Saturday won't be quite as hot, the heat index still could reach about 100.
City officials said they planned for this heat wave by sending out thousands of robo calls to warn seniors of the dangers of the heat, and remind them of available cooling centers.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel stopped by one of the city's 21 senior centers with a special plea.
"Take care of yourself, but also reach out and be a good neighbor, as the city is trying to be both with its senior centers and its cooling centers, its libraries, its police stations," Emanuel said.
Podcast
The number one tip for keeping cool in such conditions is staying hydrated, and that means not waiting until you're thirsty to drink water. Doctors suggest drinking two to four cups of water each hour during heavy exercise in the heat.
"When you sweat, since it's so humid, you essentially will not lose heat, because nothing evaporates, it just drips off your body," said Dr. Jeffrey Schaider, chair of the department of emergency medicine at Stroger Hospital.
Chicago firefighters know that rule all too well. They follow protocols when the temperature skyrockets, including taking breaks every 10 to 15 minutes. Paramedics routinely examine the men and women fighting fires, as well.
Podcast
Doctors suggest the average person limit his or her time outdoors in such conditions. Heat is notoriously deadly, as Chicago learned 21 years ago, when a long stretch of excessively hot weather led to the deaths of more than 700 people, most of them elderly people living in the city's poorest neighborhoods.
"The most dangerous scenario that we have is people that have no air conditioning. In these instances, people are essentially exposed to these warm conditions for many, many hours; or, in this instance, several days at a time. These individuals should actually try to relocate if they can," Schaider said.
The city has six official cooling centers – in Auburn Gresham, East Garfield Park, Bronzeville, Uptown, South Chicago, and Humboldt Park. Twenty-on city senior centers also double as cooling centers. Public libraries, Chicago Park District fieldhouses, police stations, and other public buildings also can help people without air conditioning at home beat the heat.
Officials also asked people to keep an eye on children and the elderly, who are especially susceptible to the heat.
"They're sometimes on medications that won't allow them to sweat, or essentially they're on diuretics; essentially they're a little dehydrated and they can't move around very much and escape the heat that they're in," Schaider said.
For a list of available cooling centers, use the links below:
• Chicago Cooling Centers
• Cook County Cooling Centers
• Illinois Cooling Centers
