Temperatures in Milwaukee reached 101 degrees on Wednesday. This high temperature surpassed the previous record of 98 degrees, set on the same day in 1947.
The Midwest is currently covered in a heat dome that stretches from Texas to Wisconsin. A heat advisory has been issued for Wisconsin residents in the southern half of the state as record high temperatures continue in the air. Excessive heat warnings are in place for Milwaukee and Madison until Thursday night.
The combination of high humidity and high temperatures will bring Milwaukee’s heat index, or feel-good temperature, between 107 degrees and 112 degrees on Thursday, said Kevin Wagner, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. It’s unseasonably warm for this time of year.
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“It’s pretty unusual to see these high temperatures in Wisconsin, especially this late in the season,” Wagner said.
Triple-digit temperatures are dangerous for everyone. But they disproportionately harm people who live alone with little outside contact.
Richard Keller, a professor of medical history and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, said social isolation is the biggest risk factor for death from heatstroke.
“Especially if you live alone in a marginal environment with no air conditioning or stable social networks, there is often no one to help you in a crisis,” Keller says.
Socially isolated people may include people with mental illnesses and the elderly.
“As we get older, we tend to drift away from our social networks, and when close friends and family members around us die, we become isolated to some degree,” Keller says.
People over 65 or who take certain types of medications for conditions such as Parkinson’s disease or schizophrenia are also at increased risk of dying from heat stroke. Their bodies are less able to regulate their body temperature, and medications can make dehydration worse.
“All of these deaths are preventable. All the body really needs is a few hours of cold temperatures and is resilient enough to recover from the threat of extreme heat,” Keller said. Told.
According to the Wisconsin Emergency Management Agency, there were 14 heat-related deaths in the state last year and 700 Wisconsinites visited emergency rooms with heat stroke. The number of fever-related emergency room visits in the six-state Midwest region jumped Wednesday to 738 per 100,000 people, compared with 22 a week ago, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Heat and Health Tracker. It increased from
Heat waves in Wisconsin are not unprecedented, but they are not uncommon. In the summer of 1995, a three-day heat wave killed 141 people. Over the past 10 years, 14 people have died from hyperthermia in Milwaukee County, according to the county coroner.
The Milwaukee Fire Department said it has responded to heat-related calls this week, but exact numbers are not available at this time. No deaths due to heat were reported.
Keller said systemic issues such as income inequality, ableism and agilism work against vulnerable populations during heatwaves. He said reaching out to people on the margins of society before a period of extreme heat hits can help save lives.
“What we need to do is recognize that while they may have social challenges, they are also human beings. They deserve our compassion and they deserve our attention.” It’s the people,” Keller said.
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