A postal worker collapsed and died Tuesday while on his route in Dallas amid extreme heat in the area, according to the U.S. Postal Service.
While going door to door during Tuesday’s high temperatures, family members told local outlet Fox 4 Eugene Gates Jr. collapsed in a front yard before a homeowner came outside to perform CPR.
While a cause of death has not yet been determined, the heat index in the Dallas area reached 115 degrees Tuesday. According to NBCDFW, that’s the highest in the Dallas-Fort Worth area since 1980.
According to the National Weather Service, heat index is a measure of what the temperature feels like to the human body when relative humidity is combined with air temperature.
Temperatures between 103 and 124 degrees fall under the “danger” category, and can cause the human body to feel heat cramps or heat exhaustion, with the possibility of heat stroke with prolonged exposure and/or physical activity, according to the National Weather Service.
“The Postal Service is deeply saddened by the loss of life suffered yesterday involving a Lakewood Post Office Letter Carrier,” the USPS told multiple outlets in a statement. “Our thoughts are with his family, friends and colleagues at this time.”
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As the New York Times reported in 2022, at least 270 UPS and United States Postal Service drivers have been sickened or hospitalized due to heat exposure since 2015.
Last year, a UPS driver in Arizona collapsed on a front porch from the heat.
Contributing: Isabelle Butera, USA TODAY