Background
Extreme Heat
The combined efforts of the Chicago Department of Public Health and the Chicago Health System Coalition for Preparedness and Response produced a toolkit to introduce Homeland Security Exercise and Evaluation Program (HSEEP) policy and guidance in a usable format for hospitals and health facilities. The step-by-step process in the toolkit is intended to help hospitals design, implement, and evaluate emergency exercises for health facilities following the HSEEP format.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predicts that across the globe heat waves will likely become stronger and longer, while heavy precipitation events will become more frequent. In order to make appropriate public health adaptations, local decision makers need tools that aggregate health, weather, and environmental data. By overlaying health and vulnerability metrics on environmental and policy data a local level, officials will better understand the variations between location and risk, thus identifying target communities for interventions.
