Doctors at WakeMed tell ABC11 Eyewitness News that as a result they're seeing more patients with heat illnesses.
State officials say in the past month, nearly 500 people have gone to the emergency room for heat related illnesses. They say the majority of patients have been young and middle aged adults.
This weekend, WakeMed reports more than a dozen heat-related ER visits at two of its campuses, while UNC has seen one, and Rex Hospital has seen about three.
Doctors say elderly patients are also at risk, because of pre-existing conditions. Babies are also at high risk for getting heat stroke.
They're urging everyone to stay hydrated the right way with plenty of water.
And that's advice that will come in handy this weekend as thousands prepare to participate in several outdoor events and activities all over the Triangle.
The weekend will be packed with things to do.
Among them - a Durham Bulls baseball game at the DBAP, which has been rescheduled to start at 7:05pm on Sunday, instead of the original 5:05pm start time, because of the excessive heat.
Gates will now open at 6:00pm, with the family fun fest running from 4:00pm - 7:00pm.
The scorching hot temperatures weren't enough to keep thousands from coming out to the Raleigh Amphitheater, for the paramore concert on Friday.
"We bought the tickets months ag, so we're coming no matter what," Morrisville Resident Wayne Hallee said.
Event organizers said they had been bracing for the heat.
"EMS has extra cool chairs on site; of course they have lots of fluids," Convention Center Assistant Director Doug Grissom said.
As for energy usage, both Duke Energy and Progress Energy say the record heat this weekend likely won't stretch demand, or lead to record usage, since many office buildings are not running air conditioning units full blast.
Send pictures | Classifieds | Report A Typo |
Send Tip |
Get Alerts
Most Popular | Follow abc11 on Twitter | abc11 on Facebook
