Heat Survival Guide from a lifelong desert child
Make sure to drink gatorade or another electrolyte-heavy drink if you’re very physically active.
If you feel dehydrated, do not chug water. Sip it slowly, and seek immediate medical attention if you vomit.
If you’re overheated or dehydrated, do not drink ice cold water. Room temperature is best.
If you are outside and you get dizzy or lightheaded, find a shady place or get indoors immediately.
Heat exhaustion is common. Get out of the heat, find a cool place, put cool clothes on your forehead and sip water.
Heatstroke can be FATAL. If you feel dizzy or lightheaded, you pass out, or you cannot keep water down after extreme heat exposure, seek medical attention immediately.
Invest in a handheld fan if you can. They are helpful for being outdoors.
Sunscreen. Always wear sunscreen. Even when it’s cloudy. UV rays can still affect you. And if you’re as pale as I am, you probably burn fucking easily. Even if you have darker skin, you should use sunscreen, you can still be at risk for skin cancer.
I’m going to keep reiterating this: WATER. WATER. WATER. LOTS OF WATER. It’s super important to keep hydrated.
Alcoholic beverages are diuretics. They will dehydrate you. Feel free to indulge, but do bear in mind that you will need to drink more water than normal to compensate.
Be cautious with caffeinated beverages. They're definitely better than nothing, though.
Light, loose clothes. White clothes will trap heat against your body, but black will absorb heat from the sun. I recommend black over white, but ultimately lighter colors are going to be your friend.
Drink even more water than normal if you wear a binder, and don’t wear it longer than you need to. Constricting clothes are going to increase your risk of dehydration, so compensate accordingly.
(If anyone has any other binder-related tips, please add them. I don't wear one all that often and don't claim to be an expert).
I will keep pointing out the importance of hydration. The human body cannot survive without water intake. If you are like many people I know and can't stand the taste of plain water, you have options! Gatorade, Powerade, and juice are all good too! Buy powdered Gatorade and make your own!
Or you can get flavored water. If you're somewhere with a Walmart, Great American brand has some good flavors. I personally recommend the Fuji Apple. Target's brand has a good apple water as well. Be cautious if you have issues with artificial sweeteners, they do contain them.
Alternatively, get a few Mio bottles (or any brand; Crystal Light has some good options too). You can make your own flavored water, and you can even make some in advance to keep in the fridge.
Last one on flavored water: boxes of single serve flavor mix. They're little packets that you can add to about 16 ounces of water. Any more than that and the flavor is watery, but you can mix a few of those in advance too.
I like to chew on ice for hydration, it's a good way to mix it up and it's stimmy for me. But be careful; as I said above, if you think you're dehydrated, you want to stick with room temp liquids for a bit.
Get some washcloths and make cold compresses. You can dunk them in chilled water and use them to wipe yourself down, or soak and freeze.
Make sure to take time to cool off extremities. Feet, hands, neck, face. This can help lower your core temperature.
If you are in a place where you can do so, get a window mounted AC unit. I do understand that this is not feasible for everyone for various reasons, but if it's something you can do, it can help. I'd recommend installing wherever you sleep. Make sure to turn it off if you are out of the room for long periods of time to give it a chance to rest.
Tower fans with oscillation are good too.
With any fans, you can make yourself a small swamp cooler: get a bowl of ice, and set it in front of the fan. Alternatively, towels soaked in cool water draped carefully over the fan achieve the same effect.
Actual swamp coolers are useless in high humidity. Be sure to have alternative methods for cooling if you have a swamp cooler.
If you have pets: keep them indoors as much as you can. If they have to be out for extended periods, have a shady place they can retreat and be sure to provide water. Do not let dogs walk for long periods on hot concrete or pavement, it can burn the pads of their feet. You can try a set of dog booties for walks if they are affordable for you.
Shower or bathe in cool water if you are able to.
During the hottest part of the day (for my area that's between 10 am and 6 pm, your hours may vary), stay indoors as much as you can. If you must be outside, limit time in direct sun, hydrate, use sunscreen. As I said above, get a portable fan if you can.
In regards to hydration: do not chug anything. The human body needs roughly 2 gallons of water a day to function (slightly less for AFAB folks, we need about 1.5 gallons), but you need to spread it throughout the day or it won't do anything but flush your kidneys.
It is possible to overhydrate, and water intoxication can be fatal as well. Symptoms will be similar to being drunk. It is a medical emergency and you should seek attention.
That's all I've got for now, if I think of more, I'll add it. If anyone has any tips I've missed, please feel free to add them as well!