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Sweating Out The Heatwave

Hydration, especially while working outdoors, is key for beating the heat

Facilities Management workers tend to an area outside the Allen Building to make sure recently planted trees get the water they need during July's intense heat.
Facilities Management workers tend to an area outside the Allen Building to make sure recently planted trees get the water they need during July's intense heat.

At least four to five hours a day, Lester Matte is outside and feeling the intense heat of the summer sun as he walks around West Campus. He admits it's not easy.

So every 45 minutes, he makes sure he's had something to drink. He'll also occasionally refresh a special towel he puts around his neck that can stay cool for hours.

"If you wait to hydrate until you're really sweating, and you're going to be outside, it's just about too late already," said Matte, a general maintenance mechanic with the Facilities Management. "I work at a steady pace, and even if I'm not thirsty, I make sure to hydrate."

Along with Matte, other Duke faculty and staff are feeling the late-July heat. Temperatures hit triple digits for four days last week and are expected to reach 97 degrees on Thursday and 100 on Friday. 

That's why it's important to stay hydrated and drink plenty of water, said Dr. Carol Epling, co-director of Duke's Employee Occupational Health and Wellness.

"By the time people are thirsty, they're already dehydrated," Epling said. "That's why it's important to drink water throughout the day and remain in the shade as much as you can. If you start feeling significantly weakened, take a break."

Epling offered these other tips to beat the heat:

  • Avoid caffeine.
  • Limit outdoor activity to morning or evening hours.
  • If outdoors, stay in the shade as much as possible.
  • Keep track of outdoor temperatures and personal comfort levels to know what temperatures feel too hot.
  • Dress in lightweight, light-colored cotton clothing.

To help beat the heat, crews in Facilities are issued short-sleeve T-shirts, wide-brimmed hats and half-gallon water jugs to take with them during the day. Some employees start their work an hour early at 6 a.m. to avoid spending time in the afternoon heat. 

"Many of our jobs are outside, so we have to acclimate as best as we can," said Mike Snyder, safety manager for Facilities. "The first thing we pass along is to keep hydrated when out in the heat. We also tell employees to know and listen to their body to know when to rest."

That's something Chad Sauls knows well. As a security officer with Duke Police, he spends two or three of the hottest afternoon hours at the Chapel Drive circle by Duke Chapel. To stay cool, he and other officers stand or sit in the shade of a tree outside the Allen Building and drink water kept in a cooler. Sauls said he constantly reminds others to drink at least eight bottles of water a day, especially when they're outside for long stretches.

"If I have to stay out there, I'll also carry a handkerchief, wet it and cool my forehead with it," Sauls said. "It only takes common sense to make sure you're okay, especially when the heat index has been as high as it has lately."