Serbia halts outdoor work from 11am to 6pm in heat wave
Serbia's Republic Emergency Situations Headquarters issued its first hard measures on July 30: a midday pause for outdoor work, ambulance crews on alert and water tankers for local councils.
Until yesterday the heat wave was a forecast. As of today it comes with a timetable.
Serbia’s Republic Emergency Situations Headquarters met on July 30 under Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Ivica Dacic, who commands the body. Prime Minister Djuro Macut attended along with the rest of the members. The single most concrete thing to come out of the session lands on anyone who works outdoors: work in the open should stop between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Does that mean building sites shut down?
It is a recommendation rather than a ban, but it is aimed at employers and at local emergency bodies, which the same decision put on full alert. In practice it means shifting the job into the cooler half of the day, early morning and late afternoon. Builders, street cleaners, couriers and farmers feel this one first.
Three items were on the agenda: the long heat wave, a high risk of open-air fires, and water levels on the Danube and other rivers. The Republic Hydrometeorological Service (RHMZ) told the session that daily highs of 35 to 40 degrees Celsius are expected over the next ten days, with the dry spell continuing.
The measures
- outdoor work is to be limited between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.
- hospitals and emergency medical services move to heightened alert, with more call-outs expected
- district, city and municipal emergency bodies go on full alert
- local councils are to provide tankers with drinking water wherever there is a need for them
- the ban on burning stubble and lighting fires in the open stays in force, with tighter watch over forests
Water is the other half of the story
This week is not only about the thermometer. Macut summed up why tankers ended up on a list of heat measures at all:
The water supply system is under threat across a large part of the Republic of Serbia.
Households were asked to use water sparingly, specifically to skip watering lawns, washing cars and filling swimming pools. Dacic said every competent institution, authority and relevant actor has to keep applying every measure available.
A glass of water every 20 minutes
The Institute of Public Health of Serbia “Dr Milan Jovanovic Batut” issued its own warning the same day. The people most at risk are the elderly and those working outdoors, and the advice is easy to remember: a glass of water every 20 minutes, at a steady pace, whatever your thirst tells you and however much you move.
Batut also mapped where the worst is still ahead. Highs near 40 degrees are expected in North Backa district from August 4 to 8, and in South Backa, West Backa, Central Banat and South Banat from August 5 to 8. This is not a two-day episode.
The warning signs of heat stroke, according to Batut, are confusion, fainting and skin that is hot and dry to the touch. At that point nobody should wait for another glass of water; call a doctor. The ambulance number in Serbia is 194, the single European emergency number is 112.
What changed since last week
When we wrote about the African air mass promising up to 42 degrees and tropical nights, all anyone had was a forecast. This is the first time the state has answered that heat with a schedule: hours for work, ambulances on standby and water on wheels. Our own advice is plain, book the work in the sun for the morning before 11 and leave the afternoon for whatever can be done in the shade.
