You can protect your health by taking simple precautions before climatic emergencies.
The health of everyone is increasingly threatened by climate change. As emergency care practitioners in Australia and the United States, we and our international colleagues are already observing the effects of climate change on the patients we meet.
However, a greater number of us will experience climatic emergencies, such as flooding, fires, and severe weather. And when the time comes, we may all take proactive steps to safeguard our health. Here are some things to be aware of and take action on.
What impact is climate change having on health?
People are turning to emergency rooms as a result of a variety of climate-related health issues, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke, air pollution-related asthma, infectious diseases linked to flooding, and shifting biomes that cause ticks, mosquitoes, and other pests to relocate. Hurricanes, wildfires, tornadoes, and floods often make the news because of the physical and mental damage they cause.
Many people find themselves suddenly without access to their regular healthcare providers and pharmacies, sometimes for extended periods of time. Individuals with complicated medical conditions, children, the elderly, people with disabilities, members of marginalised groups, and residents of disadvantaged regions frequently bear the brunt of the costs of extreme weather.
For instance, a woman recently visited an emergency room in Adelaide, Australia, complaining of a headache, weariness, and nausea—all signs of heat exhaustion—on a day when the temperature reached 110 degrees Fahrenheit. She explained to the medical staff that she had just walked two hours in the heat to get food because she didn't have a car or transportation. The only way she had to get food for her family was to venture outside, despite the media's health cautions that day telling her to stay indoors where it was cool. Well-intentioned public health warnings do little to lower the risk of sickness during harsh weather for this woman and many others. Access to housing, transportation, and other socioeconomic variables that put people at risk of poor health outcomes must be addressed in order to achieve safe and equitable health outcomes.
Extreme weather is a factor in widespread problems with health and safety.
Extreme weather linked to climate change is increasingly resulting in sporadic access to medical care, which increases the risk of later sickness and death. Extreme weather can disrupt vital infrastructure, such as the electrical grid, making it impossible for people who depend on home medical equipment to use it. A dialysis centre or emergency department may close as a result, and care may be provided more slowly in institutions that remain open.
People who are displaced as a result of a fire or hurricane may find it difficult to access medical care or essential medications like insulin, dialysis, therapies for high blood pressure, and heart medications. Especially in people who already have heart failure, lung disease, or kidney disease, these things can make chronic conditions worse and even cause death.