Deadly heat on the street: Doctors warn they’re seeing a spike in ICU patients with severe burns from falling on the GROUND because it’s so hot in parts of the US

The heatwave hitting the US is so extreme that people are getting severe burns just from falling on the pavement, which is reaching scorching temperatures. 

Doctors in some parts of Arizona say that up to a third of patients in their burn units are victims who sustained their injuries this way.

And the phenomenon is having life-threatening consequences. Up to half of the patients in intensive care units are people who fell and burned themselves, said Dr Kevin Foster, director of burn services at Valleywise Health in Phoenix.

Phoenix has seen 24 consecutive days of triple-digit temperatures and Arizona is one of more than a dozen states under a heat advisory or excessive heat warning from the National Weather Service.

A Phoenix resident rests under shade while seeking protection from the sun and heat during a record heat wave in the city

A billboard displays a temperature of 118 degrees Fahrenheit during a record heat wave in Phoenix, Arizona

According to the American Meteorological Society, asphalt can be more than 50 degrees hotter than the air temperature, while concrete is significantly higher 

The service deems the weather a ‘major risk’, giving it a three out of four warning and forecasting temperatures as hot as 114 degrees Fahrenheit.

According to experts, at air temperatures of 85 degrees Fahrenheit, concrete surfaces reach a temperature of 105 degrees and asphalt is about 130 degrees.

When the air temperature is 97 degrees, concrete gets as hot as 145 degrees and asphalt is a whopping 150 degrees Fahrenheit. 

At 125 degrees, skin burning can happen in two minutes. At 130 degrees, a third-degree skin burn can occur in as little as 30 seconds, according to the National Institutes of Health.

A third-degree burn, extends through and destroys all layers of skin and injures underlying tissue, often requiring multiple surgeries and months of recovery.

Foster told CNN that one-third of patients in the burn center are people who fell to the ground and burned themselves so severely they needed hospital care.

‘Summers are our busy season, so we anticipate that this sort of thing is going to happen,’ Foster told CNN.

‘But this is really unusual — the number of patients that we’re seeing and the severity of injuries — the acuity of injuries is much higher. The numbers are higher and the seriousness of injuries are higher, and we don’t have a good explanation for it.’ 

And Arizona isn’t the only state in the US to be suffering from oppressive temperatures. 

Cities in Utah have either tied or broken maximum temperatures, and nine states have declared heat advisories. Four states have declared excessive heat warnings, forecasting more record-breaking temperatures that could be deadly. 

Water drips from a person as they cover their head for protection from the sun in Phoenix during the record heat wave

Heat advisories are in effect across parts of Florida, Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas, Utah, Nebraska, Colorado and Montana. Excessive heat warnings are in effect across parts of Utah, Arizona, Florida and California.

The NWS is urging people to take precautions if they are outside and reschedule strenuous activities to avoid prolonged exposure to the dangerously high temperatures. 

In Las Vegas on Saturday, the service reported temperatures so high it was able to bake cookies in a car that reached 210 degrees Fahrenheit and on asphalt, which reached 156 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In Texas, the heat index, or the ‘real feel’ temperature, is forecast to reach 114 degrees Fahrenheit. Florida could see indices as high as 112 degrees. Kansas will get as hot as 108 degrees Fahrenheit. 

In addition to burns, doctors are seeing an uptick in the number of patients coming into hospitals with heat-related illnesses. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns of the dangers of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which can be deadly. The agency estimates an approximate 600 people die each year in the US from heat-related illnesses. 

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns of the dangers of heat exhaustion and heat stroke, which can be deadly.

The National Weather Service warned of how hot cars can get in extreme temperatures 

Maricopa County, the county that houses Phoenix, has reported 18 heat-related deaths as of July 19, with a majority of those deaths occurring between July 2 and July 19. Additionally, the number of heat-associated hospital visits has skyrocketed as the temperatures have risen recently. 

And people shouldn’t be concerned only of themselves. This extreme heat is dangerous for pets, as well. 

The searing temperatures of concrete and asphalt can cause severe damage to pets’ paws from walking on the hot surfaces. 

Additionally, pets are at a heightened risk for heat stroke, which can began to cause organ damage with just a 3-degree rise in their body temperature, and can kill them in as little as 15 minutes if not treated.