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3 Safety Tips for Icy Sidewalks

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Icy sidewalks can be a health hazard and a liability issue. These three safety tips for icy sidewalks can help prevent slip and fall accidents on your sidewalks this winter.

1. Use Products That Prevent Freezing

Antifreeze products Cambridge MD, such as deicing salt, can melt existing ice and help keep new ice from forming. These products are particularly useful in conditions where melting and refreezing snow can create slippery conditions because they help prevent the water from melted snow from freezing when temperatures drop overnight. However, if weather conditions exist where snow alternates with periods of rainfall, these products may get washed away before they can be effective, so reapplication may be necessary.

2. Apply Substances That Increase Traction

In situations where ice can not be fully removed or prevented from forming, it can be a good idea to apply substances, such as sand, that increase traction. When properly applied and re-applied as necessary, putting sand on top of ice and snow can help prevent slip and fall accidents by making icy pathways less slippery. To be effective, sand needs to be re-applied whenever there is new snowfall or rain or other weather conditions may have blown or washed it away.

3. Remove Snow

Your sidewalks will be much less likely to be slippery if you remove as much snow as possible from them. This can be accomplished with snowmelt products, a snowblower or a shovel. If you are dealing with periods of repeat snowfall, you may need to remove snow multiple times to keep your walkways safe throughout the snow event. If possible, try not to pile snow up next to the sidewalk where melting can cause water to run onto your walkways and refreeze.

Slippery sidewalks can lead to accidents that result in serious injuries. These three safety tips can help you make your sidewalks safer.

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4 Complications of Dehydration

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It is always important to stay hydrated by drinking plenty of bottled water Reeves County TX. However, it becomes even more crucial when temperatures spike during the summer months and people head outside to participate in sports and other activities.

Dehydration occurs when your body doesn’t have enough fluids to carry out its regular functions. This happens when you lose more fluid than you take in. While this situation can take place for a number of reasons, the summer heat can be an exacerbating factor. Dehydration is a serious medical issue, and complications sometimes become deadly.

1. Heat Illness

When you become dehydrated, your body cannot produce sweat in sufficient quantities to cool you down in hot weather. Consequently, your body temperature rises. This can result in heat illness. There are several types of heat illnesses, of which heatstroke is the most severe. Heat exhaustion is also a common and fairly serious heat illness.

2. Hypovolemic Shock

Another potentially life-threatening complication of dehydration is hypovolemic shock. This acute drop in blood pressure is due to decreased blood volume. Blood consists of 55% plasma, and plasma itself is over 90% water, which is why dehydration can lead to hypovolemic shock.

3. Seizures

The central nervous system sends information to your muscles via electrical signals. Ionized particles of certain elements, including sodium and potassium, facilitate the transfer of these communications to the muscles, which is why they are called electrolytes. Dehydration often throws your electrolytes out of balance, which can mix up the electrical signals. As a result, you could experience a seizure in which you lose consciousness and undergo involuntary contractions of the muscles of your body, particularly the arms and legs.

4. Urinary Problems

Not all complications of dehydration are acute in nature. Over time, prolonged dehydration can lead to the formation of kidney stones or urinary tract infections. These are often painful but typically treatable conditions. However, chronic dehydration could eventually cause kidney failure.