Terra Verde, a radio show and podcast about environmental and climate issues, recently interviewed Bibiana Martinez, PhD, MPH, associate research scientist lead at Heluna Health, about extreme heat preparedness. Martinez shared insights from Heluna Health’s research on the topic, including the data brief, “Extreme Heat Impacts and Household Preparedness in the Western United States,” published last June.
Martinez told host Maureen Mitra that Heluna Health’s research on this topic seeks to understand people’s attitudes, knowledge, beliefs and behavior patterns, in order to better inform public health decision making and communication around these dangerous and potentially deadly extreme heat events.
“I think an important point is that we are all at risk,” Martinez said. “But there’s certainly some people that are more at risk: older adults, people who are unhoused, people who work outdoors, athletes, people with some chronic conditions. There’s a lot of common medications that actually make extreme heat worse, and also the impacts of extreme heat have been felt worse in communities that are socioeconomically disadvantaged.”
Martinez and Mitra were joined by Walker Wieland, Manager of the California Office of Environmental Health and Hazard Assessment’s new CalHeatScore program, who shared information about the tool and how Californians can access cooling centers.
Martinez emphasized that extreme heat can be more dangerous when people are unprepared for it. For example, when heat waves strike early in the summer season, or when they strike places that are usually temperate, like the pacific northwest.
Martinez told Mitra that cramps, heat rashes, nausea, dizziness, clammy skin, weakness and headaches can all be signs of heat illness. For people experiencing these symptoms, she said it’s important to drink water, move to a cooler location and seek medical attention if symptoms persist or worsen.
Martinez said that the best preventative measures to take to avoid heat-related illnesses are to stay cool, stay hydrated and stay connected.
“Stay out of the worst part of the heat if you can,” she said. “Turn on your air conditioning or go to a cooling center. Take a cold bath if you need to. In terms of staying hydrated, avoid alcoholic beverages, but also energy drinks and other very sugary beverages that can make you more dehydrated. And just try to keep a thermos with you – a water bottle that you refill through the day – keeping your body hydrated. And then stay connected with people that might be at risk, particularly older adults, but also sign up for alerts so that you are connected to your local and national weather service alerts, so that you know if something is happening, you can be prepared.”
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