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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
World
Victoria Bekiempis in New York

Footage shows UPS driver stumbling from heat while delivering packages in Arizona

UPS said the driver who was overcome by heat had recovered.
UPS said the driver who was overcome by heat had recovered. Photograph: Eva Hambach/AFP/Getty Images

An Arizona resident has shared surveillance video of a UPS driver collapsing on the doorstep of his house, in an effort to warn others about dangerously high temperatures, according to recent reports.

The video footage, shared by Scottsdale homeowner Brian Enriquez from his doorbell device, captures a delivery person ambling slowly toward the door, seeming uncertain on his feet. When the delivery man leans over to leave the package on the doormat, he falls and slumps on the ground.

The unnamed delivery driver lies there for a few moments before he stands and rings the doorbell. He is then pictured “staggering away,” NBC News reported.

Enriquez was not at home during the incident, and did not see the recording from his Ring device until after the driver had departed. After Enriquez saw the video, he called police and UPS to inform them of what had occurred.

“I was concerned for the fact that he was coming, stumbling to the door,” Enriquez said in an interview with KPNX. “Had I gotten to my phone sooner, I could have talked to him through my Ring, but he had already left the property at that point.”

UPS reportedly said that the driver was all right. “UPS drivers are trained to work outdoors and for the effects of hot weather. Our employee used his training to be aware of his situation and contact his manager for assistance, who immediately provided assistance,” NBC News quoted the shipping company as saying in a statement.

The company also said: “Our package delivery vehicles make frequent stops, making air conditioning ineffective.”

The unsettling footage of this driver’s collapse came amid soaring temperatures across the US and much of the world as concerns about the climate crisis intensify.

Highs in Scottsdale, Arizona, on the outskirts of Phoenix, topped 110F on Thursday, and temperatures there have exceeded 100 nearly every day for more than one month, NBC News said.

Maricopa county, where Scottsdale is located, reported 338 heat-related deaths in 2021, a record number of such fatalities.

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