The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is hoping to save lives this summer by preparing doctors for extreme heat.
New guidance released by the agency last month encouraged clinicians to talk with patients about the dangerous effects of high temperatures and what they should do if they feel ill from the heat.
CDC highlights people with asthma, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, diabetes, mental health conditions and drug dependencies, as well as pregnant people, children and the elderly, as being particularly vulnerable. The agency provided talking points for physicians to help their patients understand how hot days might exacerbate their conditions and what to do about it. The guidance also empowered doctors to talk to patients about having access to air conditioning at home and at work, and to help them make a plan for staying cool.
“The people delivering care know individual risk factors and they can ask, ‘Hey, do you have AC at home?’ They know what medicines someone may be on, all the things that can really influence if someone is going to get into trouble when it gets hot,” Ari Bernstein, director of CDC’s National Center for Environmental Health, said in an interview.
