A 39-year-old man died from heat stroke Monday after working for a contractor at the University of Arkansas.
The man's death is the first heat-related death this year, Washington County Coroner Roger Morris said.
Morris declined to release the man's identity because he was working to notify the family who lives out of state.
The man, who lived out of state, was working on the campus on Sunday afternoon for a private contractor and began showing signs of heat stroke, Morris said. With symptoms of headache and being disoriented, the man was taken about 3 p.m. Sunday to Washington Regional Medical Center. He died at 7 p.m. Monday.
The man was given plenty of fluids and breaks, but his body temperature still reached 109 degrees, Morris said.
Once a body reaches 104 degrees it runs the risk of hyperthermia, or heat stroke. The heat stroke can cause cardiac arrest, he said.
"Heat stroke is silent," Morris said. "It just happens. Watch your coworkers. Watch your family. Watch your neighbors."
If a body stops sweating while outside in triple-digit weather, that's a severe symptom and the person should immediately seek cooler temperatures and fluids, Morris said. Temperatures reached into the 90s Sunday.
"If it's 100 degrees, you better get some liquids," Morris said. "Get in the shade and relax. Stop any vigous activities."
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has an open and ongoing investigation into the heat-related death, said Elizabeth Todd, a Dallas-based spokesman for the agency.
Correction: The original version of this story misstated the day the man died. The error has been corrected.