INDIANAPOLIS — As temperatures begin to rise, children should be cared for when going outside.
according to Emergency Medicine physician at Riley Children's Health Dr. Kara Kowalczyk.
"The difference with kids is they can't always communicate how they're feeling," Kowalczyk said. "They can't always say that they're too hot or ask for a drink. Kids don't sweat as much as adults and so they're going to, unfortunately, suffer heat exhaustion faster than adults."
Kowalczyk is an emergency medicine physician at Riley Children's Health. She said children, much like adults, can experience a heat stroke or heat exhaustion. Both of these can be extremely harmful to kids and even cause neurologic changes.
In order to protect kids, adults should check how hot the surfaces a child is playing on before the child goes on them.
"It is possible to get burned from really hot playground equipment or really hot pavement, and so make sure that you touch the things before you send your kids out to play barefoot," Kowalczyk said. "Put your hand down, see if it's too hot to keep your hand down. If it is, it's going to be too hot for them to play."
Kowalczyk said in order to help make sure children don't get burned from playing at the playground, it is best to take them to these areas earlier in the day or later in the evening as the temperature lowers. If you suspect your child is dehydrated, make sure to give them plenty of water, take them to a cooler area, and if the child's symptoms are not improving, call 911.
Signs of dehydration:
- Very thirsty
- Decreased urine output
- Not producing tears when crying
- Feeling dizzy, tired, or lightheaded
- Dry mouth, lips, and eyes
- Nausea
- Headaches
-
Hoosiers rally against VP Vance's visit to discuss redistricting
The possibility of early redistricting brought demonstrators back to the Indiana Statehouse for the second time since mid-September.
North side neighborhood leads citywide effort to keep streets clean
Herron-Morton is part of the Adopt-A-Block program, a partnership between Keep Indianapolis Beautiful and the City of Indianapolis.
Youth violence reduction initiative aims to steer Indy teens from gun violence
The Youth Violence Reduction Initiative launched in September with a $150,000 grant from the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform.
New judge resentences man who killed IMPD officer on criminal confinement charge
The man convicted of killing IMPD Officer Breann Leath was re-sentenced Friday morning, receiving additional time for criminal confinement but no extra jail time due to concurrent sentencing.
