New or improved tools are now available to help people navigate through sometimes dangerously hot conditions outside. These services are provided on both the national and state level.
The Louisiana Department of Health has expanded its Heat-Related Illness: Data Dashboard and Guidance. Dr. Sundee Winder is the executive director of Public Health Preparedness within the Louisiana Department of Health. She says their dashboard will now include trends on how the high temperatures impact individuals. “This year we’ve expanded the tool. We made it easier to identify the data, look at demographics, look at specific parishes, regions, etc.”
Dr. Winder says she hopes the dashboard will raise awareness of how the heat can impact your health. “Last year we saw 88 fatalities and those are all preventable. And so we want to get the message out to prevent death. We want to prevent heat-related illnesses, as well.” Included with the dashboard are tips on how to avoid heat-related illnesses and guides for employers.
The other new tool in the fight against heat-related illnesses comes from a partnership between the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. As Drew Hawkins, with the Gulf States Newsroom reports, the agencies recently unveiled what they call HeatRisk.
The online system is designed to be simple and easy to use according to Dr. Aaron Bernstein, the Director of the National Center for Environmental Health at the CDC. “And it will give you a seven day forecast that’s color-coded that will really help understand when temperatures are too hot for health.”
For some context, the U.S. government defines extreme heat conditions as a period in which the temperatures stay above 90 degrees, with high humidity, for at least two to three days. When the heat index reaches 105 degrees or higher, conditions can become dangerous for both people and pets.
With HeatRisk, the colors range from light green for little to no risk, to magenta for extreme heat. And the website makes recommendations on whether it’s safe to spend time outside in your area. “If it has to be on a magenta day,” Dr. Bernstein suggests, “let’s do it early in the morning or late at night.”
HeatRisk combines temperature data with heat-related emergency response information and also offers air quality updates. This feature can help people with health conditions to decide if being outside is safe for them at that time. The CDC website cites NOAA/NWS, which cautions that HeatRisk “is an experimental product and is not supported 24/7. Changes may occur without advance notice.”
*The Gulf States Newsroom is a partnership among public radio stations in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi.
