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12 Ways to Keep Cool In A Crisis


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In a crisis situation there’s a good chance the grid is going to be down. The refrigerator and air conditioning will not be working and excessive heat can be dangerous for the elderly, the very young and for many with chronic medical conditions. Here’s 12 ways to keep your cool when the temperature soars.

  1. If you have an attic or loft open the hatch/door to allow the hot air to keep on rising rather than staying in the areas you use more often.
  2. Just as we advise people to stay warm in one room in very cold weather if you have a room that’s cooler than all the rest use it in preference to the other rooms in the house.
  3. Put your hands into a bowl of cold water. Your hands have a large surface area and the blood vessels at the wrist are near the surface. Putting your hands into a bowl of cool water will chill the blood a little as it passes through and help keep your temperature within normal limits. Dipping your feet into cool water has the same effect.
  4. On the same theme a cool cloth on the back of your neck will make you feel much cooler almost instantly.
  5. Use natural cotton bedding if you have it, it will soak up sweat much more effectively than synthetics and will save that slick clammy feeling on humid nights.
  6. If you are really struggling at night wet your hair. You will feel much cooler and the water evaporating will cool you down even more.
  7. Draw the curtains on the sunny side of the house before the room heats up. Open those and close others as the sun moves during the day.
  8. Establish which windows provide the best airflow through the house. Depending on where your walls and doors are you can often get a decent flow of cooler air by opening certain windows. Biggest is not always best where windows are concerned.
  9. Don’t have a cold shower. Immersion in cold water will shut down the blood flow to the skin and trap the heat inside you. Tepid bathing is far better as the blood keeps flowing cooling as it nears the skin taking that cooled blood around your body which in turn makes life more comfortable.
  10. Loose clothing is a must. Tight clothing prevents the evaporation of sweat and it’s evaporation that makes you feel cooler. Loose cotton clothing is better still.
  11. Eat spicy food. This may sound odd but spicy foods contain capsaicin which makes you sweat, and as I said it’s sweat evaporating that causes heat loss and cools you down.
  12. Dampen your clothes. The heat of your body will dry the clothes and it’s this heat exchange that produces the cooling effect.

Remember that once you start to feel thirsty you are starting to dehydrate. Ensure adequate fluid intake during hot weather. Heat stroke kills fast and the death toll soars during heat waves.

 

Going swimming was not included because to be honest, in a crisis the last thing on my mind would be taking off to the beach.

 

Take care

 

Liz

 

 

Delivered by The Daily Sheeple

Contributed by Lizzie Bennett of Underground Medic

- See more at: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/12-ways-to-keep-cool-in-a-crisis_062014#sthash.xdw0L9lw.dpuf
Edited by Midnightmom
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All of these are good.....well, not the spicy food thing for me. Can't tolerate spicy at any temperature.

 

Always knew a freezing cold [we have well water] shower would lock me up. That explanation was good. In fact, .....and this might just be an MS thing, I am helped by soaking in a hot tub for just a few minutes when I get zones of too hot/too cold.

 

MS locks up muscles and can make extremities very freezing cold while my core temperature continues to dangerously increase. It is one very UNCOMFORTABLE feeling, let me tell you. So by either soaking hands and feet in comfortably hot water...or even hot shower, it releases the muscle spasms and gets the blood flowing out to cool the body. Can't stay in hot water long tho....delicate balancing act. I knew what I was doing but ....I like how they explain it.

 

 

MtRider :knary::frozen::knary:

Edited by Mt_Rider
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The spicy food thing is real. Notice that most cultures known for very spicy food have in common a hot climate, and almost every culture indigenous to a very hot climate is known for spicy food?

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You can get battery operated fans at Wal-mart in the camping section. It's not a long term solution, but would keep air moving as long as you have batteries. The cooling towels that you wet down and drape over your neck work great. My DH takes his golfing and it helps to keep him from overheating.

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The dollar store also carries those little personal battery operated fans. I have a few stuck in each of our cars. They come in handy if you're stuck in traffic and don't want to overheat your engine by running the ac.

 

Great article, thanks for posting!

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I bought a box of folding fans a couple of years ago from the link below. They are cheap and probably won't last long but for $3.50 a dozen that's okay. I have them stashed all over the place. Bedroom, family room, garage, car, and I even carry one in my purse. Good for a quick cool down (hot flash) not a long term solution.

http://www.orientaltrading.com/party-supplies/party-favors/hand-fans-b1-551689-2.fltr

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I use most of those except for the spicey food. I also use spray bottles with water and spray a mist from time to time to help me cool down.

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