Summer is still weeks away but heat-related medical emergencies have already prompted 911 calls and visits to area hospitals.
“We treated people during 1890’s Day in Ringgold, one student during Heritage High School’s graduation and had an ambulance on standby during last week’s state baseball championship at Ringgold High School,” said Dewayne Wilson, of Angel EMS.
Wilson, whose company provides medical first responder and ambulance service in Catoosa County, said he expects more of the same.
“That was during May,” he said. “Meteorologists are saying this will be a hot summer, so we can expect more heat-related calls in the coming weeks and months.”
Spring’s higher-than-normal temperatures followed one of the warmest winters on record, according to meteorologists with the National Weather Service, and unusual warmth and drier conditions are predicted during the months following the summer solstice on June 20.