3 kinds of weather perilous to driver health

Drivers should know the following signs of heat exhaustion or heat stroke, respectively:

• Feeling faint or dizzy/throbbing headache.
• Excessive sweating/no sweating.
• Cool, pale, clammy skin/red, hot, dry skin; body temperature above 103 degrees
• Nausea or vomiting/Nausea or vomiting
• Rapid, weak pulse/Rapid, strong pulse
• Muscle cramps/Loss of consciousness

Ways to prevent extreme heat as well as other safety tips can be found here.

Intense cold

Arctic air, together with brisk winds, can lead to dangerous wind chills. Drivers exposed to extreme cold while strapping down loads or chaining up during snowfall can become susceptible to frostbite or hypothermia in a matter of minutes.

(Photo: Oregon DOT)

They should watch for the following signs of frostbite if stuck outside their trucks for even a short period of time:

• First degree: Ice crystals are forming on your skin.
• Second degree: Skin begins to feel warm even though it is not yet defrosted.
• Third degree: Skin turns red, pale or white.
• Fourth degree: Pain lasts for more than a few hours and skin may develop dark blue or black coloration. At this stage, gangrene is a real threat. See a doctor immediately.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), a total of 16,911 deaths in the United States — an average of 1,301 per year — were associated with exposure to excessive natural cold.

Frostbite prevention and first-aid tips can be found here.

Bad air quality

During heat waves when the wind is calm and the air is stagnant, ozone and particulate matter can become trapped in the lower atmosphere. This can produce poor air quality that can last for days, and can impact healthy drivers as well as those with preexisting respiratory and heart conditions.

Even low concentrations of ground-level ozone (O₃) can trigger a variety of health problems, such as lung irritation and inflammation, asthma attacks, wheezing, coughing, and increased vulnerability to respiratory illnesses.

Particulate matter (PM), or airborne particles, includes dust, dirt, soot and smoke. Some particles are directly emitted into the air by cars, trucks, buses, factories, construction sites and wood burning. Other particles form in the air when gases from burning fuels react with sunlight and water vapor. This pollution can cause chronic bronchitis, asthma attacks, decreased lung function, coughing, painful breathing, cardiac problems and heart attacks.

Poor air quality is responsible for an estimated 60,000 premature deaths in the United States each year, according to the NWS.

Click here for more FreightWaves articles by Nick Austin.