How to Stay Safe Outdoors This Summer

When playing outside, whether swimming in your backyard pool, hitting a volleyball in the park, or laying on the beach, you need to stay safe outdoors. While summer offers an ideal time to enjoy the sun and freedom of the vacation months, it’s also a time of hazards. Find out how to protect yourself and your family this summer from some of the most common hazards outside.

Drink Up with Non-Alcoholic Beverages

Keep hydrated this summer. But put aside the beers and alcoholic drinks. Alcohol will only dehydrate you even more, as well as caffeinated beverages.

Instead, the best drink for hydration is water. Most people don’t need the extra sugar of sports drinks. However, there are some instances when your body will need the energy and minerals these drinks provide. If you’ve been active and sweating heavily for more than 90 minutes, you might need a sports drink to replenish electrolytes.

Be sure to keep drinking water throughout the day. When you feel thirsty, you’re already mildly dehydrated. Sweating in a dry climate, like Southern California, will cause the sweat to evaporate quickly, making you less likely to recognize how much moisture your body has lost. Therefore, make sure to drink enough that you don’t feel thirsty.

Keep Your Cool

During the heat of the day, you should watch out for heat illness. The chances of this happening are more likely at the beginning of the summer when few people are acclimated to playing outdoors. Watch out for nausea, dizziness, heavy sweating, muscle cramps, and general unease. These indicate possible heat exhaustion that could progress to life-threatening heatstroke unless you cool off in an air-conditioned area. Not getting enough to drink also increases your risk of heat illness. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) offers a handy information page for identifying types of heat illness and what to do.

Block Out Sun Damage

Sun damage can occur at any age and in any person. Therefore, everyone, regardless of age, skin tone, or tanning ability, needs to wear sunscreen to protect themselves from skin cancer and sun damage. Additionally, wear hats in the sun to add extra shade to your face and keep yourself cool.

Apply at least a shot-glass full of sunscreen to the body half an hour before going outside. Use a minimum of SPF 15 that protects against both UVA and UVB rays.

Don’t forget that when at the beach, lake, or a pool, the sun reflecting from the water can also cause sunburn. Therefore, don’t forget to put sunscreen on every exposed portion of skin and reapply it at least every two hours.

Stay Safe Outdoors and Have Fun with Patio Games and More at Best Pool Tables for Sale

Don’t make the hazards of summer ruin your fun. As long as you take action to stay safe outdoors, you can still enjoy fun in the sun. For more fun, check out our patio games and outdoor sports at Best Pool Tables for Sale.