‘Incredibly dangerous’: Three tips as Qld swelters

Queenslanders have been urged to follow three simple tips to stay safe as heat swelters across the state, with emergency responders expecting a surge in those in need of care.

Queenslanders have been urged to follow three simple tips to stay safe as heat swelters across the state, with emergency responders expecting a surge in those in need of care.

Temperatures across the state are expected to rise well above 40C and Health Minister Shannon Fentiman has pleaded with all Queenslanders to stay cool, stay hydrated and keep an eye on the elderly and vulnerable.

The demand on paramedics has already increased sharply in recent days as temperatures rose and severe storms battered the state.

But Queensland Ambulance Service director Lisa Dibley said the stress on emergency care was expected to surge again in the coming days.

“We normally get about 3100 triple-0 calls a day (and) we’ve been seeing about 3600 a day,” she said.

Ms Fentiman alongside Ms Dibley at the Queensland Ambulance Service call centre. Picture: Richard Walker

“With this warmer weather, we’ve got the severe and the extreme heatwave conditions.

“We actually noticed that it’s the days after the heatwave that our demand continues to grow so on the days that it’s an extreme heatwave, we see about 1 per cent growth.

“But those days after, so your really hot summer days, we see a growth of about 22 per cent.”

Ms Fentiman said Queenslanders right across the state were “sweltering now with extreme heatwave conditions”, which she stressed will create “incredibly dangerous” conditions.

“I really need Queenslanders to take precautions, so there’s three things I’m asking Queenslanders to do over the coming days,” she said.

“The first is to stay as cool as possible — stay indoors, utilise airconditioning where you can, if you don’t have airconditioning at home or you’re one of those households currently without power, seek shelter in public libraries or shopping centres.

“Don’t go outside in the middle of the day if you can help it and if you do need to go outside in the middle of the day seek shade, take a water bottle, take a hat — really sensible precautions.”

The Health Minister said the second tip was to stay hydrated and keep consuming fluids.

“So six to eight glasses of water every day, avoid caffeinated drinks, and it’s really really important to make sure that young kids are getting enough water and make sure there’s water out for your pets as well,” she said.

The final request from the Health Minister was to “look out for one another”.

“Make sure you’re checking in on your elderly neighbours, your elderly parents — we do know that some Queenslanders are more vulnerable than others when it comes to extreme heatwave conditions.

“So that’s of course younger people, elderly people, people who are pregnant and breastfeeding and also those Queenslanders with underlying medical conditions.”