Summer Safety Tips

Summer is here and all of us are spending a lot more time at the beaches, pools and participating in outdoor activities.  Living in Florida, I have to adhere to safety precautions almost year round.  As many of you may know, summers in Florida are just plain HOT.  Here are some summer safety tips to keep you and your family safe wherever you are during the summer.

Outdoor Activities
Any time you or your family are outside whether it be playing sports or visiting an attraction it's important to take precautions to prevent dehydration and heat exhaustion.  

Dehydration can occur when you don't replenish liquids lost from sweating.  Some of the symptoms of dehydration are thirst, loss of appetite, dry skin, skin flushing, dry mouth, weakness, and chills.  If a person is showing minor signs of dehydration, give them plenty of water and have them sip it slowly.  Electrolytes may also have been lost so drinking Gatorade or Pedialite will also help.  Another important tip if you or your child is participating in outdoor sports is to make sure that they start hydrating an hour before the activity.  This will help to make sure that they stay hydrated.  My son plays tackle football and he starts practice in July.  People from the north always say to me, "I can't believe he starts practice in July when it's so hot".  Yes he does and yes it's hot.  But we give a gallon of water to take to practice and he rehydrates about every 15 to 20 minutes.


Heat Exhaustion can occur after several days of exposure to high temperatures such as a family vacation with consecutive days at theme parks.  The symptoms of heat exhaustion are heavy sweating, paleness, muscle cramps, tiredness, weakness, dizziness, headache, nausea, vomiting, and fainting.  Treatment for heat exhaustion includes cool beverages, rest, cool shower or bath, air conditioned room, and lightweight clothing.  I think I suffered from heat exhaustion during our recent family vacation to Williamsburg, Virginia. We were there during the hottest week in July when the temperatures were in nearly 100 degrees.  We spent two whole days walking around outdoors.  For the next two days following this, I was exhausted which isn't like me.  I couldn't get enough to drink and didn't have any energy to do anything. 


Pools
We all know the drowning is the number 1 safety issue with swimming pools.  An article written by Modernmom entitled "Drowning Looks Different Than You Think" discusses that you may not even realize that someone is in trouble until it's too late.  When a person is drowning, they are unable to scream or wave for help.   It's is important to take precautions when around swimming pools and always keep an eye on our children.  My kids are great swimmers but I still watch them like a hawk.


Beach
I was born and raised in Florida and pretty much lived at the beach when I was teenager.  At that time, I never thought twice about the dangers of the beach.  Now that I'm a mom, I'm very protective when my children are at the beach.  In fact, I drive my son crazy because I won't let him go out very far into the ocean.  He always says to me, "But Mom I'm a good swimmer."  And I always tell him that it doesn't matter if you're a good swimmer or not, you won't be able to fight the rip currents.  Rip currents are strong channels of water flowing seaward.  Rip currents are dangerous because they drag swimmers away from the beach.  Deaths due to rip currents occur when the swimmer drowns from exhaustion while fighting the ocean current.  To escape a rip current a swimmer should relax and swim parallel with the shore until they are out of the current. The swimmer could also float on their back to conserve energy and wait for the current to lose strength.  


Summer activities and vacations are fun for the whole family.  Just remember to take precautions to keep everyone safe and happy.  So go have fun and enjoy the rest of your summer!