As travelers set out on their summer vacations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention launched a new Heat and Health Initiative to protect Americans from heat exposure.
In partnership with the National Weather Service, the CDC unveiled a new initiative with three resources. These resources provide proactive actions that travelers can take to protect themselves.
The keys from the CDC include staying cool, remaining hydrated and knowing the symptoms.
“Heat can impact our health, but heat-related illness and death are preventable,” CDC Director Mandy Cohen, M.D., M.P.H. said. “We are releasing new heat and health tools and guidance to help people take simple steps to stay safe in the heat.”
For travelers, the CDC and NWS created the HeatRisk Forecast Tool, which provides a seven-day heat forecast nationwide that reveals when temperatures may reach levels that could harm their health.
The agencies also launched a HeatRisk Dashboard, which combines the HeatRisk Forecast Tool data with other information, including details on local air quality, to advise Americans on how to protect themselves when temperatures rise during the busy summer travel period.
Another aspect of the newly developed CDC clinical guidance is that it helps clinicians keep at-risk individuals safe when temperatures rise.
A recent report from the CDC found that daily emergency department visits due to heat-related illness peaked in several regions over the warm-season months in 2023 and remained exceedingly high for an extended duration.
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