NEW ORLEANS — In your Breakdown: the health department’s heat dashboard is heating up, and showing us who is coming down with heat stroke and when.
LDH’s dashboard reports that as of August 3, eleven people have died in Louisiana because of the heat. Six of them were in our region.
Jefferson Parish has the highest number of emergency department visits for heat illness in the state, with 217 patients this year.
But let’s look at the statewide statistics.
The most frequent time to be hospitalized with a heat illness?
Tuesdays and Saturdays from 3p.m. to 6p.m.
And the most frequent visitors are - by far - men between the ages of 30-49. Men aged 18-29 aren’t far behind.
The best way to avoid earning a spot on this dashboard is by knowing when it’s time to cool down.
Stay inside on these extra-hot days and avoid outdoor activities. if you have to go outside, wear loose-fitting, light-colored clothing and a hat. Drink water all day and make sure your medications don’t affect your body’s ability to regulate temperature.
The CDC says nationwide, more than one-thousand people in the U.S. are killed by extreme heat every year.
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