With extreme heat hitting King County, these health and safety tips can help you and children in your care stay safe and cool. Share with families you know! Here is information on how to safely get through this hot week from Public Health – Seattle & King County:
During the summer playing outside and engaging in exercise has many benefits to children’s physical and mental health. But when outside temperatures are high during heat waves such as this, children are more at risk than adults to the health impacts of heat including dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, and heat stroke.
When temperatures are high, Public Health recommends taking the following actions to help protect children from the heat:
- When the HeatRisk level is Red, temporarily suspend strenuous outdoor activities during hottest times of the day (between 10am and 4pm) Check your local HeatRisk forecast here.
- As a rule, reduce strenuous outdoor activities during hottest parts of the day – do outdoor activities in the early morning or evening hours when it is cooler outdoors.
- Keep babies and children in your care out of direct sunlight and make sure they are drinking lots of water and have access to water.
- Consider activities where children can access air conditioning or cool down such as shopping centers, movie theaters, water recreation facilities, or other public places.
Additional tips to stay cool during the heat wave:
For additional tips and tricks on keeping cool indoors if you don’t have air conditioning, read the Public Health blog on Public Health Insider.
For additional information on impacts of heat on children and infants, visit the CDC’s website on Keeping Kids Cool in the Heat.