Hot weather and health

TRFT Library & Knowledge Service

Jun 1

UK Health Security Agency - May 2023

This Heat-Health Alert (HHA) action card summarises the suggested actions that providers of health or social care (for example GPs, primary and community healthcare, hospitals, adult social care, children's social care) should consider to prepare for and respond to each HHA alert type:

actions to consider all year round to support summer preparedness
actions to consider for pre-summer readiness and summer preparedness
actions to consider for a yellow alert
actions to consider for an amber alert
actions to consider for a red alert

The actions are illustrative and organisations including the NHS, local authorities, Local Health Resilience Partnerships (LHRPs) and Local Resilience Forums (LRFs) should ensure that local plans are developed and in place for the coming summer as part of wider preparedness and response to extreme heat events.

In a clinical or care setting with a patient or client, staff should exercise professional judgement and respond appropriately to that patient's needs. Staff should be aware of the effects of severe heat on health and when they notice a client or patient at risk of overheating, for example, from living in a home that is too hot, that they know what immediate actions to take to ensure safety and that there are clear guidelines for them to make other necessary arrangements (for example, addressing housing issues) in the immediate and longer term.

Further information - Hot weather and health: action cards

Further information - Hot weather and health: supporting vulnerable people

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