Sunday's ACL could be hottest on record
AUSTIN (KXAN) — Sunday's Austin City Limits Music Festival could be the warmest one on record.
"Whenever we have big events like this we see the same kind of calls that we see around the city, they're just in a more condensed location," Christa Stedman of Austin-Travis County EMS said.
As ACL gets ready to wind down for another year, it could end up being a record-breaker when it comes to heat.
"Take in every band, take in the music. It's Austin, but stay hydrated," one longtime Austinite told KXAN.
Since summer wants to seemingly hang on in Central Texas, first responders want you to be ready.
"Make sure you're pre-hydrating," Stedman said. "You're eating good meals, you're taking care of your body, you're getting plenty of rest. And when you're out in the heat, you continue hydrating."
In fact, Stedman said her crews have seen plenty of people getting dehydrated quickly over the last two weekends.
"When you start to get thirsty, you're already behind the curve," Stedman explained. "You want to hydrate so much that you're not getting thirsty."
The most common thing medical crews respond to are people who are going through heat-related illnesses, according to Stedman. The signs usually start with cramps in your arms, legs and sometimes stomach. Things can escalate quickly, sometimes in a matter of minutes.
"Heat exhaustion is the vast majority of what we see. It's going to be profuse sweating, dizziness, nausea and vomiting," Stedman said.
Whether it happens to you or not, teams are on standby and ready for you.
"One of the great things about ACL and the relationships we have with both the production company and other medical providers that we work with is the vast majority of the patients we see at ACL we are able to treat one site," Stedman said. "Very few of them require a transport to the hospital."
The final day is Sunday. You can see a full list of KXAN coverage of ACL here.