A Healthy Blueprint

As extreme heat proves to be the #1 weather-related killer in the US, public, private, and nonprofit sectors understand the importance of collaboration in order to adapt to and become resilient with rising global temperatures, particularly in urban settings. This session explored how healthcare providers, government officials, and businesses can work together to design solutions to help safeguard vulnerable groups against extreme heat.

Dr. Victor Dzau, President and CEO at the National Academy of Medicine shared some sobering stats that certain populations are more at risk of heat-related illnesses:
1. People who already have health conditions or vulnerable groups e.g diabetes, hypertension, people with disabilities, elderly, pregnant women, and outdoor workers like those on farms and construction sites
2. Socioeconomic factors and your environment i.e. if low-income, Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities are more likely to live in neighborhoods with a lack of green and blue infrastructure, access to cooling centers and resources, etc.

Eleni (Lenio) Myrivili, Global Chief Heat Officer at UN-Habitat (United Nations Human Settlements Programme) and Arsht-Rock, says we need to think about three key things when we approach dealing with heat:
1. Awareness raising – increasing communities’ knowledge around heat risks
2. Preparedness – during a crisis, how can we make sure we have the right things in place?
3. Redesign – how can we rethink how we build our communities to become more resilient to extreme heat?

It was exciting to hear how the Climate Health Equity for Community Clinics Program (spearheaded by Nate Matthews-Trigg, MPH, NMCEM, CEM, Associate Director of Climate and Disaster Resilience at Americares and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and supported by Johnson & Johnson) has been put into action at 40+ clinics in SW Louisiana with Crystal Decuir‘s guidance (Chief Nursing Officer at SWLA Center for Health Services). This program’s initial focus is on extreme heat and allows participating clinics to complete an online assessment, which will produce a customized heat action plan with five recommendations. Stellar initiative!