Humidity can be dangerous and anyone can have a heat related illness. It’s important to look out for early signs that include headaches, muscle aches or fatigue. People at a higher risk for a heat related illness include those who work or spend a considerable amount of time outdoors without the proper fluids the body needs to keep going.

Rader Clinic’s Chief Army Public Health Nurse, Camille B. DiClerico, said that four environmental factors affect people in hot areas — temperature, humidity, radiant heat and air velocity, so if the temperature’s high and the humidity is low one can tolerate the heat better. Unfortunately, in the Washington, D.C. area the humidity is often very high.

‘‘Sweating is the body’s mechanism for maintaining your body temperature, you have to sweat, you may not know you sweat, but you sweat,” said DiClerico.

‘‘When the humidity is high, you will know because your clothes are wet, when it is low it evaporates as soon as you sweat.

‘‘It becomes dangerous when the body cannot dispose of excess heat and begins to store it. A heat stroke is the most serious of all of the heat disorders — the body temperature goes through the roof causing delirium, mental confusion and a loss of consciousness,” she said.

‘‘When you touch the person suffering from a heat stroke they feel so hot and they are red and dry. These people will die if they are not treated. Victims should be moved to a cool area and their clothes should be soaked in cool water. Administering first aid can prevent permanent injury to the brain,” DiClerico said.

Heat exhaustion, heat cramps, fainting and heat rashes are less dangerous heat related illnesses, but these heat disorders can still become very uncomfortable and disruptive to anyone’s day, she said.

‘‘Heat exhaustion results from a loss of fluid through sweating, and you’re not taking in enough fluid. People suffering from heat exhaustion feel clammy and moist unlike the heat stroke where people feel extremely hot. Victims of heat exhaustion have very pale and flushed skin,” DiClerico said.

‘‘Treatment for heat exhaustion is usually simple. They should be moved to a cool place and drink electrolyte solution - a beverage that restores potassium, calcium and magnesium salts.

‘‘Heat cramps are painful muscle spasms resulting from a person failing to replace their body’s salt losses through drinking beverages containing electrolytes,” DiClerico said. ‘‘People can also faint from standing too long in a hot place or develop a heat rash that itches and disrupts sleep.

‘‘But it can be prevented through resting in a cool place and letting the skin dry,” she said.

DiClerico stressed the importance of avoiding alcohol, caffeine and sugar because it dehydrates the body, and dehydration is the leading cause of heat disorders. Also, ‘‘the elderly and those with chronic medical problems, such as diabetics or asthmatics, are at the highest risk of suffering from a heat related illness.”

‘‘I know about the seriousness of heat-related illnesses, and I am lucky to have never come down with one,” said Sgt. Arthur Crume, a Soldier visiting the clinic. ‘‘But I drink plenty of water, and have a fan to keep me cool.”

Summer is a time for fun in the sun, but the fun is over if you come down with a heat-related illness, so incorporating a few simple steps to avoid it is a great idea. A brochure by the staff at the Andrew Rader Health Clinic entitled ‘‘Beat the Heat,” lists the ways to stay cool in the summer.