Summer Safety

When it’s hot out, take steps to keep yourself and your family safe and healthy.

Prevent tick bites

Ticks can carry diseases like Lyme disease and Powassan virus and make you sick if they bite you. 

Ticks are most commonly found in damp, grassy, brushy, or wooded areas, including your own backyard. Ticks can attach to your body, including areas between the toes, back of the knees, groin, armpits, and neck, along the hairline, and behind the ears.  

Protect yourself from tick bites:  

• Use an EPA-approved tick repellent anytime you’re outdoors
• Wear long-sleeved clothing and socks to reduce exposed skin when weather permits. Light colored clothing makes ticks easier to spot.
• Check yourself, children, and pets for ticks as soon as you come inside
• Shower to rinse off ticks before they become attached and put your clothes in the dryer on high heat for 10 minutes to help kill them
• If you find a tick attached to your skin, remove it promptly 

Learn more about tick-borne diseases 

Prevent mosquito bites 

Mosquitoes can also spread diseases that make you sick. In Massachusetts, mosquitoes can give you eastern equine encephalitis (EEE) virus or West Nile virus (WNV).   

Only a small number of mosquitoes are infected at any given time, so being bitten by a mosquito does not mean you will get sick. However, the best way to avoid both of these illnesses is to prevent mosquito bites.

Protect yourself from mosquito bites:

• Use EPA-approved insect repellent anytime you’re outdoors
• Wear long-sleeved clothing and socks to reduce exposed skin when weather permits
• Schedule outdoor activities to avoid the hours from dusk to dawn during peak mosquito season
• Repair damaged window and door screens
• Remove standing water from the areas around your home 

Learn more about mosquito-borne diseases 

Water and pool safety

Drowning is a leading cause of death among young children, nationally and in Massachusetts. To help prevent water-related injury and drowning:

• Only swim at or within designated swimming areas. Swimming outside of the designated swimming areas, or at waterfronts where swimming is prohibited, can be dangerous.  
• Keep a close eye on children near the water. Parents and other guardians serve as the first and primary line of safety for their children.
• Use the buddy system and always tell someone where you are going.
• Teach children to always ask permission before going near the water.
• Do not dive headfirst into the water.
• Do not swim during a storm or when there is lightning. 
• Do not swim beyond your skillset.
• For those who cannot swim, keep to shallow areas or use a U.S. Coast Guard-approved life jacket. DPH, in cooperation with the USCG, has created a fit test video that can assist with proper fit testing of life jackets.  
• Do not use toys such as “water wings” or “noodles” in place of life jackets. These are not designed to keep swimmers safe.
• Enroll children in swimming lessons. Each year, the Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) provides free swimming lessons to children at select pools across the state in July and August through the Learn to Swim program.  

In public swimming areas:

• If caught in a rip current, do not swim against it. Swim parallel to the shoreline to escape it and then at an angle toward the beach.
• If a person in your group goes missing, check the water and notify lifeguards and park staff immediately.
• Look for signage at beaches. DPH collects beach water quality data and notifies the public about bacteria levels to minimize swimming-associated illness and injury.
• Consider becoming a lifeguard: DCR is recruiting lifeguards to work at agency-managed inland and coastal beaches, as well as swimming pools. Candidates can earn up to $27/hr and can still earn up to $750 in bonuses. For more information, visit DCR’s lifeguarding website.

Water safety resources  Beach water quality 

Window safety

Falls from windows involving young children are very serious – and preventable. Screens are not strong enough to protect children from falling out of windows. 

Prevent window falls:

• Keep furniture – and anything a child can climb on – away from windows
• Open windows from the top, not the bottom, when possible and lock all unopened doors and windows
• Install quick-release window guards which can be found in most hardware stores 

Window safety tips from BPHC 

Car safety

In the summer months the temperature in a closed car can rise quickly. The vehicle can become a deadly place for a child or animal left in it, even for just a moment.

Keep young children and animals safe in and around cars: 

• Never leave children or animals alone in a parked vehicle, even when they are asleep or restrained, and even if the windows are open
• Always check inside the vehicle – front and back – before locking the door and walking away
• If a child is missing, check your vehicle first, including the trunk
• Do things to remind yourself that a child or animal is in the vehicle, such as placing your purse or briefcase in the back seat so you will check there when you leave the vehicle
• Always lock your car and keep the keys out of children’s reach
• Ensure adequate supervision when children are playing in areas near parked motor vehicles

If you see a child or animal alone in a hot vehicle, call the police. If they are in distress due to heat, get them out as quickly as possible and call 911 immediately.  

Child passenger safety resources 

Prevent rabies exposures

All mammals (animals with fur) can get rabies. Most of these cases occur in wild animals like raccoons, skunks, bats, woodchucks, and foxes, but some pets (especially cats) and farm animals also get rabies.  

You can be exposed to rabies when an infected animal bites you, or when the animal’s saliva gets into a scratch or the person’s eyes, nose, or mouth. 

Protect yourself from rabies exposure:

• Teach children never to approach animals they don’t know – even if they appear friendly
• Report any animal that seems sick or injured to the local animal control official
• Enjoy wild animals from a distance and do not keep wild animals as pets
• Make sure pets are vaccinated against rabies. By law, all dogs, cats, and ferrets must be regularly vaccinated against rabies to protect them if they are exposed to the disease.
• Don’t leave food or water for pets outside. Even empty bowls will attract wild and stray animals.
• Do not let pets roam freely. Keep them in a fenced yard or on a leash.
• Keep garbage securely covered. Open garbage will attract wild or stray animals.
• Keep chimneys capped and repair holes in attics, cellars, and porches to help keep wild animals like bats and raccoons out of the house

If you are bitten or scratched by an animal or find a bat in a room when someone is sleeping, or with a young child or pet:  call your local board of health or the DPH Division of Epidemiology at [phone]. 

Rabies virus fact sheet 

Sun and heat protection

Climate change is increasing the number, as well as the intensity, of extreme heat events in Massachusetts. High temperatures and increased sun exposure mean that additional precautions should be taken when spending time outside, either recreationally or on the job, to reduce the risk of heat-related illnesses, such as heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke.  

• Seek shade and take breaks from the sun throughout the day. Use air conditioning if available - otherwise, use fans, take cool showers, or visit public cooling centers.  
• Make sure to drink plenty of water throughout the day. Drinks like coffee and soda that contain caffeine may dehydrate, so they should be followed with water.  
• Wear sunglasses, sunscreen (SPF of at least 30) 15-20 minutes before going outside and reapply every two hours, and wear protective clothing to avoid sunburn.
• When possible, limit outdoor activities during the hottest hours (10 a.m. – 4 p.m.), seek shade and wear light, breathable clothing.
• Check for heat-related symptoms, including unusually heavy sweating, shortness of breath, dizziness, and more.
• Avoid outdoor activity when air quality is low. Check this air quality monitoring map provided by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection.  

To stay informed with real-time heat forecasts and community resources to help you plan, prepare, and respond to unhealthy heat in Massachusetts, visit the Unhealthy Heat Forecast website.

Additional tips on sun and heat protection can be found on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Extreme Heat and Your Health website or the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) website. 

Extreme heat safety tips  Climate fact sheet: extreme heat events  Extreme heat and your health | CDC