Desert Messenger

August 16, 2023 www.DesertMessenger.com 3 Switch & Save Up to $250/Year On Your Talk, Text and Data Plan! © 2023 Consumer Cellular Inc. Terms and Conditions subject to change. New service activation on approved credit. Cellular service is not available in all areas and is subject to system limitations. All other products are trademarked by their respective manufacturers. Phones are limited to stock on hand. Savings calculation is based on a comparison of Consumer Cellular's average customer invoice to the average cost of single-line entry-level plans off ered by the major U.S. wireless carriers as of May 2022. CALL CONSUMER CELLULAR 877-401-1130 Cool off at the Senior Center The Quartzsite Senior Center will continue to be open each weekday at 9am for socialization and cooling with lunch served at 12 noon. They have been open each weekday until about 3pm or later. The Senior Center is an official cooling center for the town, so whenever the forecast calls for tem- peratures of 110 degrees or more, the Senior Center will be open, whether it is weekday or weekend. On those days, they will be open from 9am until 7pm. They have kept the doors open more days than normal this summer, due to the ex- treme heat Quartzsite has been ex- periencing. Volunteers are always appreciated. There will be iced tea and cold wa- ter to drink, plus various activities are offered. There are many books to read, jigsaw puzzles to put together, card games to enjoy, dice games to play, and you may bring your favor- ite game to play, plus easy chairs are available to nap in. Your pets are welcome if they are well-behaved and in pet carriers. They also have a couple of carriers available, if needed. If the whole town loses power, they have a generator, which will kick in, giving us air conditioning! So come join them to take a break from the heat and cool down and socialize this summer. The Senior Center is located at 40 Moon Mountain Ave., Quartzsite. For more information call the Se- nior Center at 928-927-6496 Extreme heat affects Quartzsite By Shanana Rain Golden-Bear Periods of excessive and/or extreme heat are no joking matter. According to National Weather Service, heat kills more people than tornadoes, floods, hurricanes, earthquakes and lightning combined. Extreme heat is defined as a period of at least 2-3 days of high heat with temperatures above 90 degrees. Heat disorders strike when people spend too much time in the heat or overexert them- selves. Older adults, young children, and people who are sick, overweight or have an underlying health condi- tion are more susceptible to heat-re- lated illness. During the Town Manager meet- ing on Wednesday, August 9th, Quartzsite Chief of Police Clay Romo related how the heat has been affecting the community. He said, "It's something we deal with every summer, but this year we are only halfway through the sum- mer and we've already exceeded the amount" that the county fiduciary budgets for expected deaths "as a whole for the whole county." According to Arizona Department of Health Services Heat Related Dashboard, as of August 13th, 2023, there have been 32 total Heat Re- lated Illness Emergency Dept. (ED) visits this year in La Paz County. The county ranks the highest in the state with a rate of 157.0 per 10,000 ED visits. In comparison, Maricopa County rates at 1,820 ED visits per 10,000 ED visits. Chief Romo stated, "In the past week and a half we have 5 heat re- lated deaths in our community. A lot of the people who have passed were over the age of 65. Some of the deaths have been in the outlining areas. People camping in the bushes and no one noticed." Chief Romo encouraged folks to look out for our neighbors and to be more aware of the symptoms of heat related issues. The symptoms of heat illness may vary between in- dividuals. According to the CDC, Symptoms of heat exhaustion include: Head- ache, Nausea, Dizziness, Weakness, Irritability, Thirst, Heavy sweating, Elevated body temperature, De- creased urine output. Chief Romo added, "Also types of medications might intensify the heat affects. Having your personal information available, on your re- frigerator, on your counter, your next of kin, etc. makes it easier to notify relatives." If you or anyone you know is expe- riencing heat related issues, please call 911 as soon as possible. DEADLINE : WED. SEPT 13 TH for SEPT 20 th edition Desert Messenger News Email: editor@DesertMessenger.com 928-916-4235 www.DesertMessenger.com

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