Tips on safely dealing with the hot weather, humidity hitting the Maritimes this week

Parts of the Maritimes are dealing with heat warnings and extreme temperatures this week.

A series of heat warnings are in place across New Brunswick and parts of Nova Scotia, with temperatures expected to climb into the low 30s from Tuesday through Thursday.

The Regional Emergency Management Organization in Nova Scotia’s Kings County (REMO) issued an advisory Monday, warning residents of the high heat and humidity in the forecast.

Dan Stovel, Kings REMO’s management coordinator, says his office has a very active community outreach program.

“It’s very important to get the information to the hands of the public, so we have a set of brochures that we send to everybody to make sure that they’re aware of the dangers from a number of risks, of course heat is just one of those risks,” he says.

The elderly, children, those with chronic illnesses or those who may be pregnant are especially vulnerable to the heat.

“But we can’t forget about our public works and our staff who are out on the streets working,” Stovel says. “And those supervisors in charge of those work groups must recognize the impacts of heat during the peak days from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. and everybody should recognize the signs of heat stroke because heat stroke is a medical emergency.”

Some of the signs of heat illness include swelling, rash, cramps, fainting, exhaustion, and the worsening of some health conditions.

“If somebody you’re caring for, if their body temperature is very high or they’re confused or if they’ve stopped sweating or they become unconscious, you’re at the stage of getting into heat stroke,” says Stovel.

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More information on heat illness can be found on Health Canada’s Staying Healthy in the Heat page.

One of the tips includes drinking water, which Stovel says some people forget about.

“Even if they don’t feel thirsty, people have to stay fully hydrated, drink plenty of water regularly, even before you actually feel thirsty to decrease your risk of dehydration,” he says.

“Thirst is not an indication of dehydration, so you have to make sure that you’re drinking lots of water and we all need to pay attention, not only how we feel, but those around us feel.”

Other safety tips include wearing loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing, looking for shade while outside and taking cool showers or baths.

“If you’re at home and it’s not air conditioned make sure you close all of your window blinds throughout the day and then make sure, if you don’t have air conditioning, you can open your windows at night to get that cross breeze,” Stovel adds.

As temperatures climb this week, Stovel encourages people in his area to go follow Kings REMO on social media for the latest information.

“We make sure that we send that information out for all residents of King County,” he says.

“They’re able to sign up for an emergency email notification system as well, and so I sent out the alert via email to all of those who are subscribed to give them a heads up of this heat warning coming in.”

With files from CTV Morning Live's Crystal Garrett.