Ambos warn on city heat

Jessica Benton
RURAL Ambulance Victoria have urged people to keep out of the heat as the mercury in the region breaks 40 degrees again this week.
Bellarine Peninsula Ambulance station officer Ian Russell said with temperatures soaring to about 40 degrees yesterday and today, people needed to be mindful of heat-related injuries or illness.
“Obviously when the weather starts to heat up, people are more susceptible to heat-related illnesses,” he said.
“If they don’t look after themselves it certainly has an effect on our workload, so we encourage people to take care of themselves by staying out of the heat, drinking lots of water and getting into a cooler environment.”
“We encourage people to be aware of issues like not leaving children in vehicles or prams where they’re exposed to excessive heat.
“Kids and the elderly are extremely susceptible in hotter weather as it puts more stress on the body.”
Mr Russell said recognition was the most important step when treating heat-related problems.
“Recognising it is the first step for us,” he said.
“We look for things like shortness of breath, unsteadiness and sweating.
“From a first aid perspective it’s about recognition and removing the person from the environment.
“We try to cool them with water, fans, all the things that we generally do.”
Mr Russell said hospitals became busy on hot days for a number of reasons.
“People try and do the things that they normally do,” he said.