(Phoenix) Hot sidewalks and unshaded playgrounds pose risks of superficial burns as air temperatures hit new summer highs in Southwest cities like Phoenix, which just recorded its hottest June on record.
The average maximum temperature during the day was 43 Celsius, with no 24-hour high falling below 37.7 °C.
Young children, the elderly and the homeless are particularly at risk for contact burns, which can occur within seconds when skin touches a surface at 82°C.
Since the beginning of June, 50 people have been hospitalized with such burns and four have died at Valleywise Health Medical Center in Phoenix, which operates the largest burn center in the Southwest, serving patients from Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, Southern California and Texas, according to its director, Dr. Kevin Foster. About 80 percent of them were injured in the Phoenix metro area.
Last year, the center admitted 136 patients with superficial burns between June and August, compared with 85 during the same period in 2022, Foster said. Fourteen died. One in five was homeless.
“Last year’s record heat wave resulted in an alarming number of patients suffering life-threatening burns,” Foster said of a 31-day stretch, including all of last July, with temperatures at or above 110 degrees Fahrenheit during Phoenix’s hottest summer on record.
In Las Vegas, where summer temperatures regularly reach levels comparable to those in Phoenix, 22 people were hospitalized in June alone at the Lions Burn Care Center at University Medical Center, spokesman Scott Kerbs said. That’s about half of the 46 people hospitalized during the three summer months last year.
Like Phoenix, the desert sun beats down on Las Vegas for hours each day, superheating outdoor surfaces such as asphalt, concrete, metal car doors and playground equipment like swings and monkey bars.
Victims of superficial burns often include children who have injured themselves by walking barefoot on hot concrete or touching hot surfaces, adults who have collapsed on a sidewalk while intoxicated, and elderly people who have fallen to the roadway as a result of heatstroke or other medical emergency.
Some do not survive.
Last year, heat injuries were a leading or contributing cause of 645 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County, which includes Phoenix.
One of the victims was an 82-year-old woman with dementia and heart disease who was admitted to a suburban Phoenix hospital after being found on the scorching hot pavement on an August day when temperatures reached 105 degrees Fahrenheit.
With a body temperature of 40.5°C, the woman was rushed to hospital with second-degree burns on her back and right side, covering 8% of her body. She died three days later.
Many patients with superficial burns also suffered potentially fatal heatstroke.
Valleywise Hospital’s emergency department recently adopted a new protocol for all heatstroke victims, immersing patients in an ice bath to quickly lower body temperature.
Recovery for skin burn victims is often lengthy, with patients undergoing multiple skin grafts and other surgeries, followed by months of convalescence in skilled nursing or rehabilitation centers.
Some of the skin burn victims in both Phoenix and Las Vegas were children.
“In many cases, these are small children walking or crawling on hot surfaces,” Kerbs said of those hospitalized at the Las Vegas center.
According to Dr. Foster, about 20 percent of the skin burn victims hospitalized and treated at the Phoenix center are children.
Young children are not always aware of the damage that can be caused by a sizzling metal doorknob or a hot sidewalk.
“Because they’re playing, they’re not paying attention,” said urban climatologist Ariane Middel, an assistant professor at Arizona State University who leads the SHaDE Lab, a research team studying the effects of urban heat.
“They may not even notice that it’s hot.”
By measuring the surface temperatures of playground equipment, the team found that in 37.7°C weather with no shade, a slide can heat up to 160°C, but a cover can lower that temperature to 43.8°C. A rubber cover can reach 86.6°C, a handrail can heat up to 48.8°C and concrete can reach 55.5°C.
Many parks in the Phoenix metro area have covered picnic tables and plastic tarps stretched over playground equipment, which help keep the metal or plastic surfaces several degrees cooler. But many others don’t, according to M.me Middle.
She said fresh wood chips are more comfortable underfoot than rubber mats, which were designed to protect children from head injuries but absorb heat in the hot sun. Like rubber, artificial turf is hotter than asphalt.
“We need to think about other types of surfaces, because most of the surfaces we use for our infrastructure are heat sponges,” Mr.me Middle.
Hot concrete and asphalt also pose burn hazards to pets.
Veterinarians recommend dogs wear booties to protect their paws when walking outdoors in the summer, or keep them on cooler grassy areas. Owners are also advised to make sure their pets drink plenty of water and don’t overheat. Phoenix bans dogs from popular hiking trails in the city on days when the National Weather Service issues an excessive heat warning.