MADISON, Wis. — Health officials are advising senior citizens to take extra care in the heat.

The CDC says older adults are often more prone to heat stress.

Connie Schultz is a volunteer delivery driver for SSM Health’s meals on wheels program. She said she loves interacting with the people she delivers to, even for only five minutes at a time.

“Some of the people just look forward to our coming and being able to connect and know that we are there for them,” she said.

But with that privilege comes responsibility. With rising temperatures, Schultz is taking extra care to check in with every resident on her route.

“That’s my one question: ‘are you staying cool enough?’” she said. “If I’m at the door, I can kind of feel if it’s cool enough.”

The program serves 300 meals a day, prepared at the Goodman Center, and delivered throughout the Madison area. Volunteer Coordinator Carol Barbian said welfare checks are a huge part of the drivers’ responsibilities.

“If they don’t answer the door and they don’t answer their phone, the volunteers are told to tell the staff and we do welfare checks,” she said. “We call their emergency contacts, or if we can’t get ahold of them, we do a non-emergency call to the police.”

Barbian said it’s a responsibility her and her team are more than willing to take on.

“We have a great group of volunteers that are very dedicated to the recipients and so we do take our job very seriously,” she said.

For older adults who can get out of the house, Goodman Center staff are encouraging them to beat the heat in their facility. Program manager Gayle Laszewski said they’re taking extra care to reach out to community members who may need help.

“I knew there were at least three people who were going to be walking here [Wednesday],” she said. “So I did reach out to them and make sure they have alternative modes of transportation, because the last thing you want them to do is walk when it’s 85, 90 degrees.”

She said she’ll also be distributing educational flyers to warn people about the health risks, as older adults can be more susceptible to illness.

“A lot of older adults take certain medications which affect their ability for their bodies to cool down,” Laszewski said. “Some older adults don’t have air conditioning so we want to make sure that they are in an air conditioned building.”

She said everyone can do their part to check in on the older adults in their life.

“Getting someone to air conditioning and really keeping an eye on them for signs and symptoms of heat illness is really really important,” she said.

Signs of heat-related illness included muscle cramps, headaches, nausea or vomiting.