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Outdoor workers beat the heat

Posted 6/27/17

While most of us have been hunkered down in air conditioning this past week, there are many whose job it is to be working outside and they have had to cope with the dangerous heat wave.

The basic …

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Outdoor workers beat the heat

Posted

While most of us have been hunkered down in air conditioning this past week, there are many whose job it is to be working outside and they have had to cope with the dangerous heat wave.

The basic rule for most of these workers is simple – start early and finish early. Sometimes, though, that isn’t possible. Public safety employees, for instance, are called to be there when and wherever they are needed, even if it is over 115 degrees.

Town of Fountain Hills street and parks employees are among those getting an early start. They are out before the sun is up. Public Works Director Justin Weldy said between their 5 a.m. starting time and 11:30 a.m. the crews will be out in the field doing pavement or infrastructure repairs and maintenance.

After 11:30 and until the end of the day at 3:30 p.m. crews are working in the shop, out of the sun and under coolers repairing and maintaining equipment, making signs or doing paperwork.

They also make sure the crews have plenty of water and ice available to stay hydrated when working under the sun.

The routine is similar for parks employees, according to Parks Supervisor Kevin Snipes. The early part of the day is for working outside with inside assignments after noon. They also work 5 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.

Staying hydrated is a key part of the park employees’ routine also, Snipes said.

“The heat can catch up with you quickly,” Snipes said. “You don’t always notice the effects yourself.

That’s when you rely on the guys working around you; they will likely notice the heat taking a toll before you do.”

The construction crew working on the Park Place project in downtown Fountain Hills had a large amount of concrete to pour and did the work overnight from about 10 p.m. Tuesday to 6:30 a.m. Wednesday. It is typical to pour concrete overnight during the summer to avoid the heat and sun drying the concrete too fast.

Need to be there

What about the people who may not always be working outside, but won’t have a choice if an emergency comes up?

Maricopa County Sheriff’s Capt. Hank Brandimarte said he is sensitive to what the heat can do to his deputies. He said he has experienced a couple of hours directing traffic in hot weather and that can hurt you.

The supervisors make sure they have water and are drinking it, Brandimarte said. He added they also make sure deputies take appropriate breaks.

Deputies also wear their protective vests that weigh about 15 pounds and do not allow for air circulation.

“We have gone to using the outer vest,” Brandimarte said. “It is easy to remove when you are in the office doing paperwork and allows for cooling down.”

When the job calls for entering a structure that is on fire, conditioning for a hot environment becomes a routine part of the job.

In preparing this story we arrived at Fire Station 1 to find a firefighter in full turnout gear, including an air tank, dragging a big tire across the parking lot with a hose line over his shoulder. A thermometer indicated it was 107 at the time.

Fountain Hills Rural/Metro Fire Chief Dave Ott said the daily conditioning is part of building a resistance to heat.

“It is important to know what your body can tolerate,” Ott said.

Asst. Chief Jason Payne, also a paramedic, said you will almost always see a firefighter with a water jug in his hand.

“We make it mandatory for them to drink half their body weight in water every day,” Payne said.

He said it is a training routine they must maintain even when not on duty.

In hot weather the protocol for fire crews working at a scene for an extended period, whether a fire or accident, becomes very strict. It is up to command to make sure they have manpower available to shorten work cycles, provide breaks and allow for rehab before returning to the job.

“We monitor [firefighters’] vital signs more stringently during the summer than in the winter,” Payne said.

The temperature peaked here on Tuesday, June 20, at 118 degrees. And at about 3 p.m. that day a man working on windows fell two stories from a roof to the ground sustaining some non-life threatening injuries.

The man told Sheriff’s deputies that he simply slipped as he was moving from one spot to another. Ott said he could not confirm whether heat illness had any role in the man falling.

Fire and law enforcement are urging citizens to look out for one another during the heat wave. Check in on friends and neighbors, particularly the elderly or infirmed. As Snipes pointed out, rely on one another.