Celebrating the Fourth of July at a parade in Florida means dealing with temperatures over 90 degrees and high humidity. While we need to keep ourselves hydrated and avoid too much sun exposure, first responders have to be ready to get to those who become overwhelmed by the heat fast at crowded parades.
Lt. Adam Nadelman of the Naples Fire Department knows it's easy to be overcome by the hot weather and suffer heat exhaustion. Several such instances happened at Monday morning's Fourth of July parade through downtown Naples.
"Before the parade even starts, there have been people out in the sun already for over an hour," Nadelman said. "It happens every year."
He said that's why first responders at such events keep an eye out for anyone who might get overwhelmed by the heat, and patrol the parade on bikes and EMS-equipped motorized carts, which are easier to navigate through a crowd than road vehicles.
"When we have events like the parade, the streets are closed, there's very limited access," Nadelman said. "So we have these special event vehicles that carry equipment and personnel on them to get to the scene quick."
He said that if a patient's condition is serious, an ambulance will be brought in.
"In heat stroke situations, or where they're feeling faint and passing out, we don't want them to drive in that condition," Nadelman said. "So they'll get transported to a hospital."
Nadelman said it doesn't matter what the age is - anyone can suffer from heat exhaustion.
"Grab some shade, bring and umbrella...and drink a lot of water," he said.
