How oppressive heat sneaks up on seniors

Doctors say either because of age or illness, many elderly people just don’t feel the heat the same way. They don’t notice how hot they are until it’s too late.

The city of Philadelphia is under a Code Red because of the heat emergency until at least Wednesday night. The intense heat might not be felt by all.

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr Donald Schwartz says the problem is older people just can’t feel the heat and it can kill them.

“Because of either illness or age itself no longer sense temperature as well, and as temperature slowly builds up in a house people may lose a sense of how hot it is. So yes there will be people who we may lose over the next few days, our goal is to minimize that number.”

Dr Schwartz says people need to drink fluids and stay away from alcohol and caffeine. The city is also working to bring homeless people inside to cool off. Schwartz urges able-bodied people to check in on the sick and the elderly.