Municipal heat wave response plans.

Approximately 400 people die from extreme heat each year in the United States, and the risk of heat waves may increase as a result of global climate change. Despite the risk of heat-related morbidity and mortality, many cities lack written heat response plans. In a review of plans from 18 cities at risk for heat-related mortality, we found that many cities had inadequate or no heat response plans. This is an important area for further investigation and government attention.

[1]  F. P. Ellis.  Mortality from heat illness and heat-aggravated illness in the United States. , 1972, Environmental research.

[2]  M. M. Hilferty,et al.  Sunstroke and Allied Conditions in the United States , 1932 .

[3]  Roger A. Pielke,et al.  Human Factors Explain the Increased Losses from Weather and Climate Extremes , 2000 .

[4]  M. Collins,et al.  Projections of future climate change , 2002 .

[5]  G. Meehl,et al.  Climate extremes: observations, modeling, and impacts. , 2000, Science.

[6]  Michael A. Persinger,et al.  The weather matrix and human behavior , 1980 .

[7]  L. Kalkstein,et al.  An evaluation of climate/mortality relationships in large U.S. cities and the possible impacts of a climate change. , 1997, Environmental health perspectives.

[8]  M. Mcgeehin,et al.  Excess hospital admissions during the July 1995 heat wave in Chicago. , 1999, American journal of preventive medicine.

[9]  T. Wigley,et al.  Interpretation of High Projections for Global-Mean Warming , 2001, Science.

[10]  Robert G. Steadman,et al.  A Universal Scale of Apparent Temperature , 1984 .

[11]  Thomas C. Peterson,et al.  Maximum and Minimum Temperature Trends for the Globe , 1997 .

[12]  M. Mcgeehin,et al.  Heat-related mortality during a 1999 heat wave in Chicago. , 2002, American journal of preventive medicine.

[13]  Thomas J Török,et al.  Heat wave morbidity and mortality, Milwaukee, Wis, 1999 vs 1995: an improved response? , 2002, American journal of public health.

[14]  H. Mirchandani,et al.  Heat-related deaths in Philadelphia--1993. , 1996, The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology.

[15]  Beth C. Reinke,et al.  Impacts and Responses to the 1995 Heat Wave: A Call to Action , 1996 .

[16]  L. Kalkstein,et al.  Weather and Human Mortality: An Evaluation of Demographic and Interregional Responses in the United States , 1989 .

[17]  R. Steadman.  The Assessment of Sultriness. Part I: A Temperature-Humidity Index Based on Human Physiology and Clothing Science , 1979 .

[18]  Roger A. Pielke,et al.  Temporal Fluctuations in Weather and Climate Extremes That Cause Economic and Human Health Impacts: A Review , 1999 .

[19]  E. Noji,et al.  The Public Health Consequences of Disasters , 2000, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine.

[20]  M. Palecki,et al.  The Nature and Impacts of the July 1999 Heat Wave in the Midwestern United States: Learning from the Lessons of 1995. , 2001 .

[21]  Eric Klinenberg,et al.  Heat Wave: A Social Autopsy of Disaster in Chicago , 2002 .

[22]  K. Smoyer.  Putting risk in its place: methodological considerations for investigating extreme event health risk. , 1998, Social science & medicine.

[23]  T. S. Jones,et al.  Risk factors for heatstroke. A case-control study. , 1982, JAMA.

[24]  R. Kaiser,et al.  Heat-Related Death and Mental Illness During the 1999 Cincinnati Heat Wave , 2001, The American journal of forensic medicine and pathology.

[25]  L. Kalkstein,et al.  The Philadelphia Hot Weather–Health Watch/Warning System: Development and Application, Summer 1995 , 1996 .

[26]  A. Henschel,et al.  An analysis of the heat deaths in St. Louis during July, 1966. , 1969, American journal of public health and the nation's health.

[27]  W R Keatinge,et al.  Heat related mortality in warm and cold regions of Europe: observational study , 2000, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[28]  P. Robinson.  On the Definition of a Heat Wave , 2001 .

[29]  G. Mcgwin,et al.  Temperature-Related Deaths in Alabama , 2000, Southern medical journal.

[30]  M. Mcgeehin,et al.  The potential impacts of climate variability and change on temperature-related morbidity and mortality in the United States. , 2001, Environmental health perspectives.

[31]  J. Semenza.  Are Electronic Emergency Department Data Predictive of Heat-Related Mortality? , 1999, Journal of Medical Systems.

[32]  Heat-related illnesses and deaths--Missouri, 1998, and United States, 1979-1996. , 1999, MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report.

[33]  P. Sorlie,et al.  Air-conditioning and mortality in hot weather. , 1992, American journal of epidemiology.

[34]  L. S. Kalkstein.  Health and climate change. Direct impacts in cities. , 1993, Lancet.

[35]  R. Buechley,et al.  Excess mortality associated with three Los Angeles September hot spells. , 1970, Environmental research.

[36]  L. Kalkstein,et al.  Direct impacts in cities , 1993, The Lancet.

[37]  E. Donoghue,et al.  Criteria for the diagnosis of heat-related deaths: National Association of Medical Examiners. Position paper. National Association of Medical Examiners Ad Hoc Committee on the Definition of Heat-Related Fatalities. , 1997, American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology.

[38]  M. Marmor.  Heat wave mortality in New York City, 1949 to 1970. , 1975, Archives of environmental health.

[39]  H. Howe,et al.  Heat-related deaths during the July 1995 heat wave in Chicago. , 1996, The New England journal of medicine.

[40]  L. Kalkstein,et al.  Saving lives during extreme weather in summer , 2000, BMJ : British Medical Journal.

[41]  C. M. Reed,et al.  The epidemiology of heat-related deaths, Texas--1950, 1970-79, and 1980. , 1983, American journal of public health.

[42]  C. Bridger,et al.  Mortality from heat during July 1966 in Illinois , 1968, International journal of biometeorology.

[43]  M. Gover.  Mortality during Periods of Excessive Temperature. , 1938 .

[44]  Raquel V. Francisco,et al.  Regional Climate Information—Evaluation and Projections , 2001 .

[45]  W. Applegate,et al.  Analysis of the 1980 Heat Wave in Memphis * , 1981, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

[46]  J. Houghton,et al.  Climate change 2001 : the scientific basis , 2001 .

[47]  J. Dematte,et al.  Near-Fatal Heat Stroke during the 1995 Heat Wave in Chicago , 1998, Annals of Internal Medicine.

[48]  F. P. Ellis,et al.  Mortality in St. Louis, Missouri, during heat waves in 1936, 1953, 1954, 1955, and 1966. , 1976, Environmental research.

[49]  K. Kizer.  Lessons Learned in Public Health Emergency Management: Personal Reflections , 2000, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine.

[50]  N Benbow,et al.  Mortality in Chicago attributed to the July 1995 heat wave. , 1997, American journal of public health.

[51]  L. Kalkstein,et al.  A new approach to evaluate the impact of climate on human mortality. , 1991, Environmental health perspectives.

[52]  S B Thacker,et al.  Morbidity and mortality associated with the July 1980 heat wave in St Louis and Kansas City, Mo. , 1982, JAMA.

[53]  F. P. Ellis,et al.  Mortality during heat waves in New York City July, 1972 and August and September, 1973. , 1975, Environmental research.

[54]  S. Schuman.  Patterns of urban heat-wave deaths and implications for prevention: data from New York and St. Louis during July, 1966. , 1972, Environmental research.