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Outdoor workers have various strategies to beat the heat

In this photo taken on Wednesday, July 29, 2015, Memphis International Airport (MEM) maintenance employee Christopher Hicks adjusts an edging sheet while he works with fellow crew members to paint threshold bars on one of the runways at MEM, in Memphis. Tenn. Hicks is among those who work outside despite a recent string of heat advisory warnings. Employees at MEM are encouraged to take frequent breaks in an air-conditioned space, and are provided with coolers full of ice water and sports drinks to help beat the heat. (Brandon Dill /The Commercial Appeal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT In this photo taken on Wednesday, July 29, 2015, Memphis International Airport (MEM) maintenance employee Christopher Hicks adjusts an edging sheet while he works with fellow crew members to paint threshold bars on one of the runways at MEM, in Memphis. Tenn. Hicks is among those who work outside despite a recent string of heat advisory warnings. Employees at MEM are encouraged to take frequent breaks in an air-conditioned space, and are provided with coolers full of ice water and sports drinks to help beat the heat. (Brandon Dill /The Commercial Appeal via AP) MANDATORY CREDIT

By Associated Press July 30, 2015 2 min read

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) – It’s hard enough having to work outside in the heat of summer, but Robert Carpenter has to do it standing over a smoking hot, 10-foot steel cylinder. He’s the pit master at The Grille, a Memphis to-go restaurant that specializes in chicken-on-a-stick and chicken wings.

The Commercial Appeal reports (http://bit.ly/1SjSTzZ) outdoor workers have various strategies for surviving the heat wave that has smothered the city in recent weeks. For Carpenter, an industrial fan and a wet towel on his head are helpful. But he says the real key is, “Water, water and more water.”

He starts working at 6 a.m. when the temperatures are cooler, but he can’t stop after it heats up. And every time he opens that pit, the heat spikes.

“It might feel like 25 (degrees hotter) to some people, but to me it feels like 50,” he said.

For Charlie Douglass, who works on Memphis International Airport’s airfield, surviving the heat means a floppy hat and plenty of fluids.

“You don’t have any shade or anything out here. All you’ve got is the heat of the sun reflecting up off the concrete,” Douglass said.

That’s why airfield workers also have to be alert to signs of heat-related illness.

“If someone starts feeling bad, I tell them to go sit in the (air-conditioned) truck,” Douglass said.

David Carter coaches the St. George’s Independent School football team. Since Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association rules don’t allow practice if the heat index is above 104 degrees, his team practices around 7 a.m. and again around 6 or 7 p.m., depending on the temperature.

Carter also makes the players drink two gallons of water a day and provides them with breakfast and lunch.

“You aren’t going to make them better players or tougher players by them being completely dehydrated and exhausted,” Carter said. “We’re trying to get the best performance out of our kids, and for us to get the best performance out of our kids we have to make sure that they’re fed and hydrated.”

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Information from: The Commercial Appeal, http://www.commercialappeal.com