PARAMEDICS are urging people to stay indoors to avoid sunstroke from tomorrow.
The warning comes as a severe heatwave builds ups across south-east Queensland.
Temperatures in Jimboomba are tipped to reach the mid-30s until late next week, with overnight lows to hover just above 20 degrees.
Queensland Ambulance Service director of operations David Hartley said people needed to avoid going outside between 10am and 3pm, when the sun was at its hottest.
He said paramedics were likely to be inundated with heat-related illness calls, many of them preventable.
“Stay indoors and out of the heat to protect (yourself) from heat illness,” he said.
“Heatstroke...can lead to unconsciousness and other serious side affects.”
Bureau of Meteorology meteorologist Harry Clark said the heatwave would last until next Friday.
“It is a very stagnant air mass across south-east Queensland but with no other weather pattern to drive it out,” he said.
Logan City mayor Luke Smith encouraged those without air conditioning to visit a library to keep cool.
“Everyone is vulnerable to heat stress but particularly young children and babies, the elderly and pregnant women,” he said.
“That’s why we’re encouraging anyone who thinks the heat might be too much for them to consider spending some time in our libraries.”
Other tips to keep cool
- Wearing lightweight, loose and natural fibre clothing
- Avoid strenuous activities
- Keep hydrated
- Avoid alcohol and caffeine drinks
- Wear a hat and sunscreen in the sun
- Keeping your home cool with curtains, shutters or awnings
- Monitoring animals and pets for heat stress
- Never leaving children or pets in parked vehicles
- Get medical advice for heatstroke
