Sizzling sidewalks, unshaded playgrounds pose risk for surface burns over searing Southwest summer

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Sizzling sidewalks and unshaded playgrounds increasingly are posing risks for surface burns as air temperatures reach new highs during the searing summers in Southwest cities like Phoenix and Las Vegas.

Ron Falk, 62, speaks of losing his leg, Tuesday, June 25, 2024 in Phoenix. Falk lost his right leg, had extensive skin grafting on the left one and is still recovering a year after collapsing on the searing asphalt outside a convenience store where he stopped for a cold soda during a blistering heat wave.

Last year, the center admitted 136 patients for surface burns from June through August, up from 85 during the same period in 2022, Foster said. Fourteen died. One out of five were homeless.including all of last July, with temperatures at or above 110 degrees during Phoenix’s hottest summer ever. Surface burn victims often include children injured walking barefoot on broiling concrete or touching hot surfaces, adults who collapsed on a sidewalk while intoxicated, and older people who fell on the pavement due to heat stroke or another medical emergency.One victim was an 82-year-old woman with dementia and heart disease admitted to a suburban Phoenix hospital after being found on the scorching pavement on an August day that hit 106 degrees .

“The ordeal was extremely painful, it was almost unbearable,” said Woolley, who was hospitalized at the Valleywise burn center for several months. He said he considers himself “95% recovered” after extensive skin grafts and physical therapy and has resumed some former activities like swimming and motorcycle riding.“In many cases, this involves toddlers walking or crawling onto hot surfaces,” Kerbs said of those hospitalized at the Las Vegas center.

“Because they’re playing, they don’t pay attention,” said urban climatologist Ariane Middel, an assistant professor at Arizona State University who directs theof playground equipment, the team found that in 100-degree Fahrenheit weather without shade, a slide can heat up to 160 degrees , but a covering can bring that down to 111 degrees . A rubber ground cover can hit as high as 188 degrees , a handrail can heat up to 120 degrees and concrete can reach 132 degrees .

“We need to think about alternative surface types, because most surfaces we use for our infrastructure are heat sponges," Middel said.to protect their paws during outdoor walks in summer, or keeping them on cooler grassy areas. Owners are also advised to make sure their pets drink plenty of water and don’t get overheated. Phoenix bans dogs from the city’s popular hiking trails on days the National Weather Service issues an excessive heat warning.

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