The city of Boston is extending its heat emergency into the weekend, and as temperatures go up, so do the calls for Boston EMS.
From dehydration to heat exhaustion, first responders are staffing up to respond to all of the emergencies during the summer scorcher.
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NBC10 Boston rode along with Boston EMS Deputy Superintendent Len Shubitowksi on the Boston Common Friday. He said a heat wave makes the call volume go up and the crews work harder.
"The heat makes everything worse," Shubitowski said.
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Boston EMS has two extra ambulances on for the heat. They have had more than 30 calls related to the heat since Tuesday.
"That's only one side of the story, because that's only things we classify as heat, but the heat exacerbates illness and injury," Shubitowski said.
He said the best thing people can do is hydrate. He carries water in the back of his EMS car, but he said sometimes even that is not enough. The agency recently responded to a mechanic who got dehydrated even though he had consumed two gallons of water.
"The heat builds up, and you really start to see the long-term effects of what's going to happen," Shubitowski said.
The oppressive heat has the organizers of the Boston Triathlon postponing their event to August. The SOWA Open Market in the South End on Sunday has been cancelled.
"By the end of this heat wave, there's going to be a lot of tired people," Shubitowski said.
