Professionals - Heatwaves - Preparedness

1. e-Learning in Heat waves
Professionals

2. Preparedness
In the following, you will be presented with information on:
• How to plan
• How to prepare
• How to train and exercise for a natural disaster
• How members of the public will be informed of a forthcoming or on-
going natural disaster
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3. Help others
Anyone who cares for, supports or assists
people at risk of serious health effects from
hot weather can play a key role in keeping
them healthy during a heat wave. It is
important that people at risk are
encouraged to manage their health
appropriately in hot weather and visit their
GP if necessary.
The following includes tips on what you can
do to keep someone healthy during a heat
wave:
• Identify a person at risk
• Help to prepare them for a heat wave
• Help them during a heat wave
• What you can do after a heat wave
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4. Help others
Visit or telephone elderly in your
community and others you know might
be at risk. Check that they have water in
the fridge.
Help them to locate the coolest room in
the house so they know where to go if a
heat wave hits.
Encourage parents to be aware of
keeping children cool and get them to
drink lots as they won’t often do this by
themselves.
Remember to emphasize that you should
never leave babies, children or animals
alone in a car, even if the air-
conditioner is on.
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5. Plan and prepare
Encourage the citizens to have a plan. The plan could consist of:
• Know who to call if you need help.
• Know and follow your doctor’s advice if you have any medical
conditions.
• If you feel unwell, seek medical advice from your doctor or nearest
hospital.
• Know where to find your emergency kit in case of a power outage.
• Keep an eye on the weather forecast.
• Know what to do in case of a wildfire.
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6. Guidance
You can help local communities in your
area prepare for heat waves by providing
advice on how they can prepare
themselves on a personal level as well as
their house or apartment.
Remember to emphasize the importance in
the community of having a chat with a
neighbour or relative/close friend about
keeping in contact during a heat wave in
case they need any help.
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7. Guidance
On a personal level you can advise your community to:
• Check that they wear light, loose-fitting clothing.
• Regularly check the local weather forecasts on the radio, TV
or on the internet.
• Set their mobile phones correctly to receive any weather alert
messages from dedicated apps etc..
• Watch the video on the next slide for tips for coping in
Heatwaves
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8. Guidance
• Make sure they know who to call (who may need help
and who could provide help to them if needed) – make a
list of important telephone numbers.
• To get advice from their doctor about whether their
medication and/or medical conditions may affect what
they should do if it gets extremely hot.
• Check if the doctor normally limits a person’s fluids,
and then advise them to check how much to drink in
hot weather.
• Check that they can store their medication at less than
25°C if needed (in some cases the medication can
become less effective or occasionally toxic if stored at
higher temperatures).
The information regarding medical state, could be
gathered in a care plan and include numbers for carers
like doctor, care persons, family etc..
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9. Guidance
For housing, you can advise your community to:
• Check their fridges, freezers, fans and air-
conditioners to make sure they work properly.
• Stock up on food (for the household and pets),
water and medicines to last for up to a week,
so they don’t have to go out in a heat wave.
• Consider buying cool packs to have in the
fridge or freezer to help cool down if needed.
• Put together a small emergency kit to plan for
a possible power cut. This is described later.
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10. Guidance
• Check that the home can be
properly ventilated without
compromising security.
• If possible, have curtains with pale
linings in rooms that get a lot of
sunlight to help reflect the heat.
Avoid dark reflective curtain
linings and metal venetian blinds as
they absorb heat and may make
rooms hotter.
• Consider putting external blinds,
shutters or some other shading on
windows.
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11. Guidance
• Insulate their house – not only will this
keep it cool in summer, but it will also keep
it warm in winter.
• Create a cool room or cool area in the
house to go to during extreme heat. This
room or area ideally should be east or
north facing (in north Mediterranean
countries) and east or south facing (in
south Mediterranean countries). It can be
cooled using indoor and outdoor shading,
ventilation and use of a fan or air-
conditioning.
• Consider the risk of wildfires as they often
occur on days of high temperature.
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12. Guidance
For parents, it is important to guide them in regard to their
children. Also for you as a professional, to be aware of the
children in the community.
Babies and children need to be watched carefully because
they are at higher risk of becoming unwell than adults.
Things parents should have in mind:
• Babies and children overheat and dehydrate quickly in
hot weather as they sweat less, reducing their bodies’
ability to cool down. They also generate more heat during
exercise than adults.
• Breastfeed or bottle-feed babies more often in hot weather
• Offer older babies and children extra drinks in hot
weather - the best drink is water
• Dress babies and children in cool clothing and protect
them from the sun with hats and sunscreen
• Never leave children in the car, not even for a moment
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13. Guidance
Further advice you can give to parents with small children:
• For sleeping, choose the coolest room in the house. Keeping the
heat out by closing the curtains and make sure fresh air can
circulate around the bassinette or cot (no liners or padding).
Don’t leave babies asleep in a pram as they can become very
hot.
• Cool your baby with damp cloths and place wet towels or
sheets around the bassinette or cot to cool the air immediately
near them. Check regularly to make sure they are not getting
too cold.
• Give your baby or child a lukewarm bath or sponge them
down with lukewarm water. Don’t use cold water or ice in the
bath.
• If you use a fan, don’t point it towards your baby or child but
use it to keep the air circulating. Make sure your child cannot
touch the fan.
• If you have an air conditioner, make sure the room does not
get too cold, 24-26 degree Celsius is low enough.
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14. Guidance
• If possible, keep children inside, particularly during the hottest
parts of the day, usually between 11 am and 5 pm. Plan your
activities for early morning, late afternoon or evenings.
• If your child does a lot of outdoor activities and exercise, take
regular breaks and provide plenty of fluids.
• Never leave babies, children or pets alone in a car, not even for a
moment. Most of the temperature increase occurs within five
minutes of closing the car and having the windows down 5 cm
causes only a very slight decrease in temperature.
• Only cover your baby’s pram or stroller with a light cloth that
still allows the air to circulate. An enclosed pram can get very
hot.
• A refreshing idea for young children is to freeze fruit pieces
(orange quarters, watermelon).
• Give more frequent but smaller meals, offer chilled food items
and minimise hot food.
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15. Power cut
During a heat wave, there is a risk
of power cuts. This could be due to
the expanding of power lines and
thereby decreasing of electrical
flow.
This you need to be prepared to
handle.
The following is advice you can
use as a Fire and Rescue service to
prepare the people in your
community.
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16. Power cut
Preparing for a power cut:
• Keep your energy supplier’s emergency
number handy in the UK this is 105– Store
the number on your mobile phone. Your
supplier’s Emergency Team should be
available 24 hours a day. Advise your
community to have the number in the contact
list of their Home Emergency Plan ( and to
always have a paper copy of their handy).
• Make sure to have an emergency generator to
power vital functions, such as an emergency
control.
• Advise citizens to consider getting on their
supplier’s Priority Services Register – If they
have any special requirements, i.e. medical
equipment etc..
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• Keep a battery powered or wind-up torch
handy and ensure that everyone in the
household/office knows where it is.
• Keep your mobile charged – Many modern
phones require mains electricity to work.
Have a mobile phone handy and consider
purchasing a portable charger to keep it
charged. Also consider buying an analogue
telephone as a back-up.
• Keep a battery powered or wind-up radio
handy, as you may be able to receive updates
via your local radio station. Furthermore a two
way radio to be in contact with colleagues
during a response.

17. Power cut
• Keep some food that does not require cooking and have
some bottled water handy.
• Back up your data files – regularly back-up work and
important files on your computer. You don’t want to lose
it all during a power cut.
• Make sure you have enough fuel in the car – Try to keep
your vehicle’s fuel tank at least half full. Service stations
may not be able to pump fuel during a power outage.
• Advise the community to check their medical equipment –
If they use electrically powered medical equipment in
their home, they should ensure the equipment has a
battery back-up.
• If someone has a mains operated stair lift, they should
check that it has a battery back-up. If it doesn’t, they
should make enquiries to have one fitted and check if
there is a manual release to return the lift to ground level.
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18. Personal safety
It is important to know how to stay healthy in the heat. People should
try to follow the four key messages outlined below:
Remember the 4 key messages to keep you and others healthy in the
heat.
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19. Personal safety
When working during a heat wave, you will need
to drink more water than normal, particularly
when completing tasks that cause you to sweat
and become out of breath.
Remember to drink even if you do not feel thirsty.
If you have doubts about whether you are
hydrated, then you can check your wee – if it is
pale, you’re drinking enough.
Make sure to always have drinking water with
you on a response.
Avoid alcoholic, hot or sugary drinks including
tea and coffee (they can make dehydration
worse).
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20. Personal safety
As a professional, you can’t always control your day, as you
might have to respond to an emergency on the hottest part of
the day. It is important to remember and follow as much advice
as possible.
It is important to keep your body cool. You can do that by
drinking cold drinks and eat smaller cold meals such as salads
and fruit.
When possible, you should wear light coloured, loose fitting
clothes made from natural fibres like cotton.
If you have to respond outside, then as often as possible, seek
shade, wear a hat and apply sunscreen. When not responding,
consider doing training sessions/hard work outdoors during
cooler parts of the day and other activities, such as desk work,
inside during the hottest parts of the day. The hottest part of the
day is between 11 am and 5 pm.
When you are inside, put wet towels or cool packs on your
arms or neck or put your feet in cool water.
Take cool showers or baths.
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21. Personal safety
Keep your house or office cool.
• Cool your house by closing windows, shutting curtains
and blinds, opening windows at night if you can, to let
in cool air. Some of this also can be done for your
office.
• Use air-conditioning if you have it (make sure it’s set to
cool).
• Know which room in your house or office is the coolest
(this will often be on the ground floor). Spend time here
when you can, if there is no power or air-conditioner.
• Use your stove and oven as little as possible.
• Watch the video on the next slide to find out ; Why do
deaths in buildings happen at night during Heatwaves?
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22. Acclimatization
What is heat acclimatization?
Heat acclimatization refers to biological adaptations to the heat that
reduce physiologic strain (e.g., heart rate and body temperature),
improve physical work capabilities, improve comfort and protect vital
organs (brain, liver, kidneys, muscles) from heat injury.
The most important biological adaptation from heat acclimatization is
an earlier and greater sweating response, and for this response to
improve, it needs to be invoked.
Heat exposure can make firefighters feel fatigued, making it more
difficult to recover and increase the firefigters risk of being a heat
casuality.
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23. Acclimatization
How to become heat acclimatized?
Heat acclimatization is the body adapting to
heat and work stresses; it does this by
increasing blood volume, reducing heart
rate, redirecting blood to the skin,
prioritizing water use toward sweat, and
reducing salt excretion.
This all starts to occur with repeated heat
exposures that are sufficiently stressful to
elevate body temperature and provoke
sweating.
Physical exercise in the heat is required to
achieve optimal heat acclimatization.
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24. Acclimatization
Generally, about two weeks of daily heat exposure is needed to induce heat acclimatization.
Heat acclimatization requires a minimum daily heat exposure of about two hours, which can be
broken into two x1 hour exposures. This should be combined with physical exercise that requires
cardiovascular endurance, (e.g., hiking, running, or high intensity interval training) rather than
strength training or low intensity drills.
Gradually increase the exercise/drill intensity and/or duration each day, working up to an
appropriate physical training schedule adapted to the high temperature environment.
The benefits of heat acclimatization will be retained for up to1 week and then decay with about 75
percent by 3 weeks, once heat exposure ends. A day or two of intervening cool weather will not
interfere with acclimatization but drinking alcohol in conjunction with reduced heat exposure can
negate the acclimatization benefits in as little as 3 days.
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25. Acclimatization
The best strategy to heat acclimatization is
to maximize physical fitness and heat
acclimatization prior to the arrival of hot
weather or before heat wave occurs.
Train in the coolest part of the day and
acclimatize in the heat of the day with drills
in full gear. Start slowly by reducing
training intensity and duration (compared
to what you could achieve in temperate
climates). Increase training and heat
exposure volume as your heat tolerance
increases. Use interval training (work /rest
cycles) to modify your activity level.
If the new climate is much hotter than you
are accustomed to, then do recreational type
activities over the first two days .
Consume sufficient water to replace sweat
losses. Heat acclimatization increases the
sweating rate, and therefore increases water
requirements. As a result, heat acclimatized
firefighters will dehydrate faster if they do
not consume fluids.
Dehydration negates many of the
advantages achieved by heat
acclimatization.
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26. Acclimatization
Following is a table showing heat acclimatization suggestions:
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Strategy Suggestions for implementation
Start early 1. Start at least one month prior to summer
2. Be flexible and patient: performance benefits take longer than the physiological benefits
Mimic the training environment
climate
1. In warm climates, acclimatize in the heat of day
2. In temperate climates workout in a warm room wearing sweats
Ensure adequate heat stress 1. Induce sweating
2. Work up to 100 minutes of continuous physical exercise in the heat. Be patient. The first few days you may not be able
to go 100 minutes without resting.
3. Once you can comfortably exercise for 100 minutes in the heat, continue for at least 7-14 days with added exercise
intensity (loads, or training runs).
Teach yourself to drink and eat 1. Your thirst mechanism will improve as you become heat acclimatized, but you will still under-drink if relying on thirst
sensation.
2. Heat acclimatization will increase your water requirements
3. Dehydration will negate most benefits of physical fitness and heat acclimatization
4. You will sweat out more electrolytes when not acclimatized, so add salt to your food, or drink electrolyte solutions
during the first week of heat acclimatization
5. A convenient way to learn how much water your body needs to replace, is to weigh yourself before and after 100
minutes of exercise in the heat. For each pound lost, you should drink about one-half quart of fluid
6. Do not skip meals as this is when your body replaces most of its water and salt losses

27. Acclimatization
There are some myths about heat acclimatization that need to be discounted:
• Myth – Age affects your ability to tolerate and acclimatise to heat.
Not true. Research that controls for body size and composition, aerobic fitness, hydration, degree of
acclimatization, and chronological age shows little or no age-related difference in one’s ability to manage or
acclimatize to extreme temperatures.
• Myth – Those who are physically fit do not need to be heat acclimatized.
Not true. Even physically active individuals cannot be fully acclimatized without exposure to environmental
heat stress, although they will probably acclimatize to heat faster than less fit people.
• Myth - Women are thought to need longer acclimatization, since they are more vulnerable to heat illness.
Not true. Women and men, in fact, show equivalent reactions to heat during exercise when controlled for
levels of fitness and acclimatization.
• Myth – Spending time in air conditioned areas reduces heat tolerance.
Not true. In fact the opposite is true, pre-cooling can extend the work time of firefighters who are heat
acclimatized by allowing them to start the work with a lower core temperature.
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28. Acclimatization
Fire fighters regularly confront the problems of working in
heat. This can lead to:
• Heat cramps
• Heat exhaustion (weakness, fatigue, nausea)
• Heat stroke (extreme elevations in body temperature)
• Dehydration
• Premature fatigue
• Poor decision making which can lead to accidents.
The effects of heat stress can be brought on by:
• Steady hard physical work (hot or cold weather)
• Radiant heat from the fire.
The type of clothing worn will also impact significantly on
heat stress. Protective clothing has both advantages and
disadvantages. It blocks radiant heat, but also reduces the
evaporation of sweat from the skin.
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29. Physical factors
Work on the fire ground demands
good health and fitness. The risk of
heat illness is greatly increased for
fire-fighters who:
• Are overweight and do not
undertake regular exercise
• Suffer from heart and circulatory
diseases or diabetes
• Have skin disorders that impair
sweating
• Are taking medications
• Drink alcohol excessively or have
other drug problems
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30. Physical factors
Physical fitness and acclimatisation to heat
reduces the risk of heat illness and promotes
effective performance on the fire ground. It is
important to achieve:
• Physical fitness from regular vigorous exercise
• Acclimatization to heat from recent regular
exercise in warm conditions
• Maintaining a healthy body weight
Natural acclimatization to heat occurs as the
summer develops. Regular exercise improves heat
tolerance and helps to keep body fat at the right
level.
If you are not suitably prepared for the job you
may not only jeopardise your own safety but that
of fellow fire-fighters.
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