INDIANAPOLIS — The heat wave in central Indiana has many school districts modifying outdoor afterschool activities.
At Decatur Central High School, football practice was pushed back Monday to 7 p.m.
"We already moved back start times for tennis and soccer, and we're not just looking at our high school athletes, we're looking at our middle school athletes, our youth athletes, our performing arts. There's a lot of other groups that this impacts outside of just high school athletes," said Justin Dixson, operations director at Decatur Central High School.
Many schools and universities use a device called a wet bulb thermometer, which measures things like sun angle, humidity and wind.
"This (device) takes into account the radiant heat, the surface temperature of where you're going to be playing," said Landon Bridges, an athletic trainer for IU Health working at George Washington High School.
Bridges said each student athlete must get screened by their doctor before joining a sports team. That helps staff know if a student requires a little more attention.
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During hot weather days, Bridges said safety is everyone's top priority.
"Hopefully we don't deal with this, but if it progresses to heat stroke, that is when sweating has stopped so your body has stopped trying to cool itself, your core body temp is over 104 degrees, you have a severe headache, you're starting to get confused — that's a medical emergency," Bridges said.
School leaders say they'll be looking at the temperatures all week to determine if any other modifications need to be made.
"We would regulate and shorten time, mandate mandatory rest and hydration breaks. We could limit all outside activity," Dixon said.