By DAJA STOWE
WISH-TV | wishtv.com
With temperatures reaching almost 100 degrees, everyone must know what to look for when they see signs of heat-related illnesses.
Dr. Jennifer Barker, a pediatric emergency room physician at Peyton Manning Children’s Hospital, joined Daybreak to speak on the signs and symptoms of a heat stroke and how they differ between children and adults.
“A lot of times people will start with symptoms where they just are feeling crampy, maybe even a little nauseous while they’re feeling really hot, and that can then progress to feeling more dizzy and faint,” Barker said. “Those are the things that we would consider more heat exhaustion where your temperature is rising.”
Barker added, “When it really starts to become critical that we get intervention going is when people do have stroke-like symptoms – confusion, weakness, not speaking correctly. That is when we definitely need to intervene.”
Children aged four or under and adults 65 and older are more vulnerable to heat-related illnesses.
For a list of warning signs and symptoms of heat-related illnesses, click here.