Between the two fans, open window and the light-colored T-shirt, senior citizen Leonard Godhigh was doing almost everything right. The kitchen light was on for no reason.

Devou Park groundskeeper Don Connelly trims a green at the park's golf course Tuesday, as a thick haze wraps downtown Cincinnati. (Michael E. Keating photo) | ZOOM |

        As thousands of Tristate residents without air conditioning struggled through heat and smog alerts Tuesday, a Cincinnati Health Department pilot program had inspectors going door-to-door to monitor heat-stress factors beyond mere temperature.

        The alerts that began Monday continued Tuesday and are expected to stay in effect at least through today.

        It was 91 in Mr. Godhigh's one-room apartment in downtown Cincinnati Tuesday afternoon, within a degree of the temperature outside. Impressed environmental health inspectors also took readings on humidity and building-wide heat retention. The program is voluntary.

        “Ninety-something degrees,” Mr. Godhigh, 67, said as Gail Cook and Kendra Smith charted the readings, “that's too hot for me.”

        Still, he's avoided heat problems so far. The inspectors gave him a list of the city's cool-centers, which he didn't know existed. “To cool off,” he said, “I usually just go to the lobby.”

        Prompted by the alerts, the city also began monitoring heat-related hospital visits. Health Commissioner Malcolm Adcock said calls to University Hospital and Children's Hospital Medical Center revealed a few heat-related emergency-room visits, but “it would be unusual to have none.”

        There have been no heat-related fatalities.

KEEPING COOL

• Drink lots of fluids.    • Stay indoors when possible, use fans and keep lights off.    • Wear light-colored clothing that's less likely to retain heat.    • Recognize the symptoms of weakness and dizziness, and get medical attention if a cool compress or other remedies don't work.

        Melinda Dennis, the emergency room nurse-in-charge at Mercy Hospital of Hamilton and Fairfield, concurred. “We've seen a couple people come in, construction workers and farmers,” she said Tuesday, “but it seems like maybe people are using their good judgment.”

        “Oh, this is my third time here today,” Cincinnati District 1 police officer Princess Davis said with a laugh, carrying vanilla ice cream and a bottle of ice water out of a Queensgate Sunoco. “They know me here.”

        She's also a department advocate for seniors, who are most at risk, along with children and pregnant women.

        Trina Walker, 19, of Over-the-Rhine, eight months pregnant, was all smiles Tuesday, waist-deep in the pool near Washington Park.

        “This is a big relief,” she said as she taught her stepson, Damauro Hall, 4, how to swim.

        Ms. Walker has air-conditioning in her home, but even those who do should ensure efficiency.

        “If your house isn't tightly sealed, especially caulks around windows, you can lose as much energy as with an open window,” said Jill Abelson, communications manager for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which just launched an Energy Star program to increase awareness.

        With home water consumption up, Boone County's judge executive issued a Level 1 Conservation Alert.

        Customers of the Boone County Water District are being asked to conserve water by limiting outdoor watering.

        The Level 1 Conservation Alert means all customers are being asked to reduce all nonessential outdoor watering by 50 percent by watering only lawns, trees, flowers and gardens on designated days.

        People with odd-numbered addresses should water outside only on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. For even-numbered addresses, the appropriate days are Wednesday, Friday and Sunday.

        In the meantime, stay cool. July 17 marks the 100th anniversary of the installation of the first air-conditioner by Willis Carrier in a Brooklyn, N.Y. printing plant.

       Chris Mayhew contributed.
       
       

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