WORCESTER, Mass. - Extreme heat in Massachusetts means a trip to the spray park for a lot of Worcester families. A local emergency medicine doctor who spoke with Spectrum News 1 said it's important to stay cool if you plan to spend time outside because the high temperatures can get dangerous if you're not careful.

Temperatures feeling around 100 degrees can force some people to change their plans.

“Oh my God. Well, at first it was going to go to her brother's house to go swimming, but unfortunately, he was sick today," Nelson Santos said. "So, we were like, 'You know, let's just find a park to see where we can go. And just have fun with the kids.’ And we just ended up here.”

Santos brought his family to the spray park at East Park in Worcester on Monday, marking his son’s first trip. While the city’s pools remain closed, the other spray park option is Greenwood Park. Santos said splashing is a great option if you don’t have a pool available.

“Oh, yeah, 100%," Santos said. "But it's better to have the spray park, especially when they can run around and do all sorts of stuff.”

But the key is to stay hydrated.

“I'll just say water, you know, ice pops the regular," Santos said. "Just to keep them nice and cold and hydrated.”

“If you're really, not keeping up with your hydration, it can be a matter of 30 minutes to an hou," UMass Memorial Health's Timothy Boardman MD said. "You know, it really doesn't take much in heat like this. Some of the warning signs include nausea, dizziness, lightheadedness, severe, sweating, you know, feeling like you're going to pass out are some of the major warning signs.”

Dr. Timothy Boardman warns vulnerable populations, like the elderly and young children, are at high risk for heat related emergencies.

“We tend to see a lot of patients when it's this hot.," Boardman said. "Not only for heat related emergency themselves, but people with underlying medical conditions like heart disease, pulmonary issues such as COPD, asthma, thyroid problems; the heat can cause all of those other medical conditions to flare up as well.”

The emergency medicine doctor said our bodies will somewhat get used to the summer heat.

“The body adapts to heat over time. And we really haven't seen temperatures this high yet this season," Boardman said. "You know, we've been up and down and kind of hanging out in the 70s to see this fast jump up to 90s and 100 degrees in some places is really going to put a tough strain on the body because we're just not used to it yet.”

And with more hot days ahead, the spray parks and pools will be ready.

The city's remaining aquatic facilities will open for the season this Friday, June 27.