Alcohol and heat can be a dangerous combination. Drinking heavily in the height of summer can lead to many injuries or accidents if you aren’t careful. For one, dehydration is very common when people are drinking in extremely hot temperatures. In addition, drinking can make you ignore signs in your body or others of heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Drinking while swimming or boating is also incredibly dangerous. And finally, drinking can make you more likely to forget basic safety measures during hot weather like wearing sunscreen. If you plan to drink, do so responsibly this summer to avoid accidents and injuries.
Alcohol and Heat: Stay Safe this Summer by Knowing the Risks
Dehydration
One of the main risks of alcohol and heat is dehydration. As a diuretic, alcohol naturally dehydrates your body, as does hot weather. The combination can leave you dehydrated more quickly than you’d expect. If you plan to drink, make sure to also drink plenty of water alongside your alcohol. If anybody in your group shows signs of dehydration, get them into cool air immediately and give them fluids. They might need emergency medical attention like an IV as well.
Ignoring Signs
Another way that alcohol and heat can work together in dangerous ways is that people who are drinking often don’t notice other things happening in their bodies. For example, you might not realize that you are feeling dehydrated because alcohol can also leave you thirsty or disoriented. You might also be less likely to notice behavior in those around you that indicates they are suffering from heat exhaustion or heat stroke.
Water Accidents
Alcohol and heat are a dangerous combination, but alcohol and swimming might be even more so. Each summer, there are tons of reports of people drowning after drinking. Alcohol lowers your inhibitions and can cause poor decision-making. In addition, it can make you more likely to slip and fall near water, which means you might enter the water while unconscious. Alcohol can disorient you and affect your reaction time, both of which can lead to drowning accidents.
Ignoring Precautions
Finally, alcohol and heat can be dangerous together because drinking heavily makes you more forgetful. When drinking, it’s harder to judge how much time has passed between sunscreen applications. Or you might forget to take any precautions against the sun’s harmful rays at all. You might not realize that you are getting burned in the sun or that your group needs to take some time in the shade to cool down.
While the summertime can be a great time to relax and enjoy a few drinks with friends, alcohol, and heat can be a dangerous, or even deadly, combination. Drinking alcohol naturally dehydrates your body by making you sweat and urinate more. When you combine this with extreme temperatures, your body’s cooling mechanisms cannot keep up. This can quickly lead to dehydration, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. In addition, you might be less likely to take precautions like wearing sunscreen or might miss warning signs in those around you. Finally, drinking and swimming are incredibly dangerous and can lead to deadly accidents. If you plan to drink, do so safely and responsibly this summer.