Health and wellbeing in YFC during a heatwave

It's important to ensure your members are prepared for hot weather when attending club meetings.

Club officers should also know the signs or symptoms of health issues that can occur due to the heat.

Sun protection

Alert parents and members before the meeting to apply sun cream and to bring a hat to wear if your meeting is outdoors.

It’s worth having a bottle of high factor sun cream on hand in case anyone has forgotten to apply some or if they need topping up and didn’t bring a bottle with them. You should remind young people in the club to re-apply their own sun cream every two to three hours if you’re hosting an outdoor activity.

Remember, it’s not appropriate for an adult – including club leaders and officers – to reapply sun cream to other people. Only parents can reapply sun cream to their own child.

Ensure that you’re aware of any allergies to sun cream (check the parental consent form) and ask YFC members with allergies to always bring their own cream.

Heat exhaustion and heatstroke

Knowing the signs that someone in your club is suffering with heat exhaustion or heat stroke is important.

You do not usually need to seek medical help if the person can cool down within 30 minutes. However

Heat exhaustion does not usually need emergency medical help if you can cool down within 30 minutes. If it turns into heatstroke, this is a medical emergency.

The NHS website highlights these symptoms for heatstroke:

• a very high temperature
• hot skin without sweating
• fast breathing and a fast heartbeat
• confusion and restlessness
• seizure (fit)
• loss of consciousness

Get immediate medical help if someone has the symptoms of heatstroke.

Cooling down

If you or a member in your club is overheating, follow these steps:

• Move to somewhere cooler and away from the heat.
• Take off extra clothes – jackets, jumpers or socks.
• Drink cold or iced drinks and eat ice cream or iced lollypops.
• Use water mists to spray skin.
• Close windows and curtains that are facing the sun.

More support from the UK Health Security Agency: Beat the heat: staying safe in hot weather

Dehydration

Be aware of signs of dehydration during a heatwave in case you or your members have not taken in enough fluid.

The NHS lists the following common signs:

• feeling thirsty
• headache and feeling light-headed
• dark yellow, strong-smelling pee
• peeing less often than usual
• feeling dizzy or lightheaded
• feeling tired
• a dry mouth, lips and tongue
• sunken eyes

Remind members to drink water regularly during club meetings. Avoid caffeinated drinks and alcohol as they will make dehydration worse. If someone feels sick or has been sick, they will find it more difficult to drink, so it's advised to start with small sips before they can gradually drink more.

Tick bites

Ticks can be active all year round, but they are most active in the months April to July, especially in warmer weather, – and sometimes later in the autumn.

Farmers face an increased risk of a tick bite, and associated diseases such as Lyme disease, due to the fact they work outdoors in grassy and wooded areas.

Share reminders with your members at club meetings about ways to prevent and treat tick bites and be prepared if going on farm visits or woodland walks.

• When walking in green spaces, stick to defined paths and avoid brushing against vegetation where ticks might be present.
• Wear clothing that covers your skin to make it more difficult for ticks to access a suitable place to bite.
• Use insect repellent (for example DEET)
• Regularly check clothing or exposed skin so that you can spot any crawling ticks and brush them off.
• After being outside, check yourself, your clothing, your pets and others for ticks.
• Remove any attached tick as soon as you find it using a tick-removal tool or fine-tipped tweezers. Fine-tipped tweezers are different from regular tweezers that might be used to remove eyebrow hair. They are very narrow and pointed at the tip and ensure that ticks are not squashed during removal.

If you feel unwell with flu-like symptoms or develop a spreading circular red rash after being bitten or spending time outdoors, you should visit your GP or call NHS 111.

Remember to tell them where you have been and if you were bitten.

More information on Lyme disease.