The Mid-Atlantic saw a dramatic spike in heat-related illness emergency room admissions during a heat wave that sweltered much of the country last week.

At its peak, emergency rooms in Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware and Washington D.C. saw more than 1,600 heat-related intakes at one day during the heat wave last week.

That’s three times higher than what the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention considers very high.

Physicians in Baltimore say they are devoting more resources to heat-related illnesses as heat waves become more common.

“Heatstroke and heat related illnesses are on the rise tremendously over the past few years,” said Dr. Cheyenne Falat, the assistant medical director at the University of Maryland Medical Center. “With the rise in average temperatures that we're seeing, the numbers are rising tremendously, just three years ago that heat related illnesses were the heat related deaths were reported to be at about 1,600 nationally. Last year, they were about 2,300.”

Falat said the numbers are likely to surpass that this year.

“When someone with heatstroke does come in, it is a priority and the mobilization of resources and staff is tremendous,” Falat said.

Baltimore city declared a Code Red heat emergency from June 21 to June 24, meaning the heat index will climb to 105 degrees or higher.

Maryland is seeing more heat incidents for longer periods of time due to climate change in the area, according to Maryland Department of Health Environmental Bureau Director Clifford Mitchell.

That’s causing additional problems for the health of Marylanders.

“We're looking at two kinds of health problems when we think about the heat, one is the direct effect of the heat itself,” Mitchell said. “The other thing we're seeing are problems like the Canadian wildfires last year, where the heat causes indirect effects, which can also affect large populations.”

Heat and bad air quality can be especially dangerous for vulnerable populations like older people, young children and people with preexisting conditions. It also impacts athletes exerting themselves outside.

During the heat wave, Mitchell said people should look for signs of heat exhaustion like dizziness, nausea, weakness or headache.

People experiencing these symptoms should cool their bodies immediately.

Mitchell said everyone should take precautions this weekend.

If you do need to go outside, ensure that you drink plenty of water and take breaks from strenuous activity.

Avoiding alcohol or caffeine is advisable and staying indoors during the hottest time of day (11 a.m. to 4 p.m.) can help reduce risk.

People are also encouraged to go to libraries for air conditioning if they are feeling overheated.