PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — At a deluxe apartment in the sky, near Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, several tenants told 10 On Your Side the air conditioning system is on the blink.

Tam McIntyre had a rough night Sunday that set the stage for a difficult Monday morning.

“I actually had to call out of work sick today, so I am on sick leave today because I woke up feeling extremely lightheaded, stomach feeling unwell, just not feeling well at all,” McIntyre said, “just because it was so hot overnight that I woke up feeling sick.”

Dr. Gordon Theisz, a family medicine specialist from EVMS Medical Group, told 10 On Your Side heat exhaustion can quickly transition to an emergency situation.

“They might be confused,” Theisz said. “They might be angry, they might not be conscious — these are signs of heat stroke. And heat stroke is an emergency. The body has a natural cooling system that we’re all aware of because we sweat. And when the humidity is high, the the sweat doesn’t evaporate as fast. whereas on a less humid day, it evaporates and you get the cooling effect.”

Theisz, a former surface warfare officer, has heat survival awareness information you can take on the road.

“Think about a radiator and what’s happening when you sweat,” Theisz said. “The heat is radiated off of your body just like it is radiated through a car radiator. And they have a fan in the car that blows air across the radiator to help dissipate the heat. So that might be one if you don’t have enough coolant.

“In our case, the blood is the coolant in the way it’s circulating. If you don’t have enough coolant in your radiator, then you’re not going to get as much heat out and therefore your car’s going to overheat. It’s kind of inherent in us to know that we need to cool down and take action.”

Managers and maintenance workers are taking action to fix the system on Effingham Street. Until then, McIntyre will use fans borrowed from friends.

“Yes, I had to contact the family friend to try to get more fans,” McIntyre said. “I have about five or six fans blowing in. At this point it is an extreme emergency. So in my opinion it’s an emergency.”