The segment is brought to you by UPS delivering what
matters for your career and for the world. Well
, recently UPS agreed to equip all of its new
delivery trucks with air conditioning to help drivers stay cool
. Comes as the company negotiates a new contract with
more than 300,000 union employees is partnering with Dr Douglas
Casa, CEO of the Cory Stringer Institute at the
University of Connecticut to overhaul its approach to health and
safety for employees. And that includes everything from education
to training to new cooling gear. And more,
I asked Dr Casa, an expert on heat safety
about the biggest challenges in helping to protect drivers when
you exercise in the heat, your body temperature rises
faster than it normally would. Um And we know
that, you know, heat stroke is, is
one of the leading causes of exertional death for um
for laborers in America. So the heat is,
you know, certainly a risk. So there are
certain things you can do to keep yourself safe that
are simple. Um And that are cost effective and
they're easy to implement. What are those moves?
What should people do to keep themselves safe? Absolutely
. Yeah. So there's five things I try to
tell people to do. One is hydration, have
cold fluids nearby all the time. Don't wait for
breaks, don't wait for lunch, have drinks as
you need them through the day. Number two,
take rest breaks when you need them. Um,
and if it's hotter out, have more rest breaks
that are longer. Number three is, um,
cooling strategies have, um, cooling to wet,
cold, wet towels on you when you're able to
, while you're doing your job or during breaks have
cooling hats on or cooling shirts or arm sleeves or
anything that you can do to keep yourself cold or
you shade. Um, when possible. Another important
one is phasing in activity in the heat, um
, in the athletic world. Most of the heat
stroke that's happened in the first few days. So
we know there's more risk in the first few days
in the heat. So go a little more gradual
with your first intense days in the heat. Um
, and then ramp it up over time. Another
kind of hidden trick or gem is get yourself in
good shape. Cardiovascular fitness is really protective and allows
you to have a much enhanced exercise, heat tolerance
. What can people like supervisors or coaches do to
help keep people safe? Yeah, it's a great
question. Um, one of the things is look
out for people if they seem to be struggling a
little, um, you know, take them out
decrease their intensity, um protect them before it becomes
more serious. But the most important thing they can
do is have great policies and procedures in place.
So have those breaks that I talked about have hydration
accessible, have cooling strategies in place and most importantly
, encourage them to use it. Um the people
, the athletes and the workers will perform better and
they'll be greatly reduced risk of heat stroke doctor,
I see that you work out of a pretty harrowing
personal experience. What happened? So I was running
a 10-K race on the track as a high school
track and field athlete. Um rising senior, I'd
had the dream of competing in the Empire State Games
, which is like a summer Olympic festival in New
York. And I had finally qualified with my last
chance to qualify senior year and in the final lap
of a 25 lap race which is as boring as
it sounds. Um I collapsed with 200 m to
go, got up, collapsed again with 50 m
to go. And then I was in a coma
for the next few hours having suffered an exertional heat
stroke. And I was super fortunate that the athletic
trainer, the nurses and the emergency room physician um
, did all the right things to save my life
. And I've dedicated the last 38 years to try
to maybe prevent other people from having a heat stroke
. And if they do make sure they get the
proper treatment. Wow. Well, we're happy that
you're here today and sharing your tips, doctor.
My final question is when you first got into this
field, how much do we really know about how
heat affects the body? And how are you applying
that knowledge now for your work outside? Yeah.
I mean, we've really certainly come a long way
in the 38 years. I've been doing this,
that the military, I think had a better head
start with this information than the labor space and the
athletic side of things. But we know a lot
of great information. Now, the research um that
we've done and many other great researchers have done,
have shown that these cooling strategies, the hydration,
the brakes, the heat acclimatization, they allow you
to be safer in the heat. And it's just
a matter of now making sure supervisors and, and
the the participants themselves are, are, are using
these strategies um to protect themselves. Doctor A CASA
. Thank you so much for taking the time to
speak with me, sharing your own personal experience and
all the great work that you're doing in this field
. For more information about ups and ways that you
can deliver success visit, www dot great employer dot
ups dot com. For more information about Dr Costa
and the Coy Stringer Institute at the University of Connecticut
visits I dot U dot edu.