Enhance Readiness for Extreme Heat
Prepare your organization and community for extreme heat by ensuring widespread adoption of customized and locally-informed heat action plans. Both healthcare systems and key government entities should appoint a heat preparedness officer who coordinates implementation of heat action plans according to well-described best practices (see below).
Health systems and public health agencies should ensure that healthcare providers understand heat-related health risks, how to counsel their patients about prevention, and how to manage heat-related illness. Heat preparedness also requires substantial investments in sustainable and resilient infrastructure that allows essential services to continue functioning in the event of an extreme heat event. Private and public organizations must regularly evaluate past heat event responses to refine their approach and protect employees and the public.
Heat Action Plans: an Essential Step Towards Adaptation and Resilience
Heat action plans are written documents that lay out a detailed, coordinated approach to mitigating the impacts of extreme heat. They should be utilized by a wide variety of organizations that respond to extreme heat events, including government agencies and health systems. Heat action plans focused on protecting population health should include three specific levels of heat-illness prevention:
Primary prevention: reducing population exposure to extreme heat
Secondary prevention: reducing the impacts of heat exposure
Tertiary prevention: responding to and limiting impact of heat-related illness
The following resources provide detailed guidance on the development of heat action plans:
Review article detailing public health preparedness for extreme heat
Heat Action Platform: guide for heat resilience projects
EPA: Excessive Heat Events Guidebook
Harvard/Americares Climate Resilient Health Clinics: healthcare-specific guidance on heat resilience and adaptation
WHO: Operational framework for building climate resilient health systems
NOAA: guidance for developing community heat action plans
WHO: guidance for developing heat-specific early warning systems
Additional resources to build climate-resilient health care practices and communities:
CDC's Health-Based Heat Forecast: Integrates health and temperature data to deliver a 7-day heat risk outlook
U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit: Specific actions that healthcare organizations can take to enhance resilience to extreme heat events
The Building Resilience Against Climate Effects: Five-step framework that allows health officials to develop strategies and programs to help communities prepare for the health effects of climate change
Planning Guide by Healthcare without Harm: Guide to community-based disaster planning and climate preparedness for health systems
C40 Knowledge Hub: Heatwave guide for cities
Center for Climate and Energy Solutions: Resilience strategies for extreme Heat
Yale Disparities in Heat Vulnerability Map: Find the heat vulnerability index, which factors in heat exposure and social vulnerability for anywhere in the U.S.