A few weeks ago, a heat wave in the Northwest lead to a strongly worded statement from Seattle-King County Public Health and Oregon Health Authority urging Portland residents to seek help from their primary care providers for heat related illness due to high demand in Emergency Departments. At the same time another heat wave in the Northeast was setting records with a similar message from the Mayor of Boston declaring a heat emergency.
Extreme heat is becoming more and more of a health concern across the country.
Health departments and other city and state entities are enacting programs to address the health effects of climate change, especially extreme heat, with programs like the Climate-Ready States and Cities Initiatives with 16 states and two cities, including Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York and New York City, Rhode Island and Vermont, participating as grantees. Another example is Miami-Dade County appointing a Chief Heat Officer in April as part of a larger Extreme Heat Resilience Alliance Project. And the CDC is promoting the Building Resilience Against Climate Effects (BRACE) framework, a five-step process for health officials to develop strategies and programs to help communities prepare for the health effects of climate change.
But what are the health affects of climate change? How is climate change related to extreme heat? And how do we prepare for extreme heat?
And since weather conditions can change quickly during an emergency, make sure you’re following trusted sources on social media to avoid scams and hoaxes. On twitter, follow @nnlm_region7, @fema, @femaregion1 (New England), @femaregion2 (New York), @nws, local news outlets, and local and state government accounts.