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Keeping kids safe in hot weather

Children do not adapt to hot weather (above 95 degrees and/or high humidity) as well as adults do. Teens are somewhere in the middle. To prevent heat stress and dehydration in your child or teen, follow this advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics, and make sure your child's coaches and counselors are following it, too.

For activities lasting 15 minutes or more (such as sports practices or games, or outdoor summer camp activities), reduce intensity levels when heat or humidity is high.
If kids are starting a new, strenuous exercise program (such as the first football practice of the year) or have just traveled to a warm climate, they need to acclimate slowly. Limit the intensity and duration of exercise, and gradually increase it over one to two weeks.
Before prolonged physical activity, children should be well-hydrated and not feel thirsty. During exercise, kids should have water always available and drink it every 20 minutes while exercising in the heat. If the weather is excessively hot and humid; if exercise is more prolonged and strenuous; or if children are sweating copiously, they should substantially increase their fluid intake.
Clothing should be light-colored, lightweight and limited to one layer of absorbent material to help sweat evaporate. Replace sweat-saturated shirts with dry clothing.
Shorten practices and games played in the heat and institute more frequent water/hydration breaks.
Never leave a child in a car. The temperature inside a car on a typical summer day can reach 120 to 140 degrees, even with the windows rolled down a little. These temperatures put kids at greater risk for heat stroke, which can lead to high fever, dehydration, seizures, stroke and death.

Watch for signs of heat illness. A child or teen with heat exhaustion may be thirsty, giddy, weak, uncoordinated, nauseous and sweating profusely. Body temperature is usually normal, heart rate (pulse rate) is normal or elevated, and the skin is usually cold and clammy. Call a doctor or seek emergency medical attention right away. Heat stroke is a serious, life-threatening condition that occurs when the body loses its ability to control its temperature. Victims of heat stroke almost always die, so immediate medical attention is essential when problems first begin. In heat stroke, a person develops a fever that rapidly rises to dangerous levels within minutes. A child or teen with heat stroke usually has a body temperature above 104 F, but the temperature may rise even higher. Other symptoms and signs of heat stroke may include confusion, combativeness, bizarre behavior, feeling faint, staggering, strong rapid pulse, dry flushed skin, lack of sweating, and possibly delirium or coma. Call 911 immediately.