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An illustration from FEMA's #SummerReady campaign, from Ready.gov.
A fan is not enough when high heat comes with high humidity. That is one of the tips in FEMA's #SummerReady campaign, which expects extreme heat to become more frequent and intense and aims to reach vulnerable groups: lower income households, rural communities, residents of urban heat islands, infants and children, older adults, laborers, people with medical conditions and athletes.
The basics for everyone
- Learn the signs of heat-related illness from the CDC, and how to respond.
- Go inside to air conditioning, or to a library, museum or shopping mall. Fans alone fall short in high heat and humidity.
- Never leave children or pets alone in a hot vehicle: heat in a car can rise up to 20 degrees in 10 minutes.
- Check on family, friends and neighbors who have no air conditioning and spend much of their time alone.
- Roughly 40% of unwanted heat buildup in a home comes in through windows, so use awnings or curtains.
- Use the oven less during extreme heat advisories and warnings.
Tips by situation
Illustration from FEMA's #SummerReady campaign.
| If this is you | What FEMA suggests |
|---|---|
| Short on money | Find free cool places such as libraries and malls, or ask the local health department. Check the weather stripping on doors and windows. Have more than one way to move air, since fans add comfort but may not lower body temperature |
| An older adult | Do not stay home alone during a summer power outage or extreme heat. Give a trusted friend or relative a spare key and tell them where your emergency supplies are. Drink fluids regularly, ask your doctor about electrolytes, and take frequent breaks indoors, avoiding caffeine |
| Working outside | Drink lots of water, wear a cold cloth or a T-shirt from the freezer around your neck, take frequent breaks, and wear a hat wide enough to shade your face |
| Living with a health condition | Ask your support network to check in regularly. Read medication side effects and ask your doctor how heat interacts with them. Keep a cooler and cold packs ready for refrigerated medicine such as insulin in a power outage. Know where nearby hospitals or nursing homes are |
| Somewhere heat feels worse | Make a plan that lists cooling shelters and air-conditioned homes, including accessible transportation. Freeze cloths or light clothing and wear them. Stay in shade and carry water, including on public transport |
Beyond heat: summer safety
Outdoor recreation. Research a park, lake, river or beach before you go, especially if its weather or climate risks are unfamiliar. The National Park Service has trip planning and outdoor hazard pages.
Fireworks. FEMA says it is best to leave fireworks to professionals, since they endanger people and pets and can start fires.
Illustration from FEMA's #SummerReady campaign.
- In drought, dry conditions or high winds, skip fireworks and sparklers.
- Check local laws on age and place.
- Never let children handle fireworks, and take care with sparklers, which cause serious burns.
- Think of neighbors, pets and wildlife, which loud noise can frighten.
- Use them only outdoors in a clear, open area away from homes, vehicles, dry grass and trees. Do not use commercial fireworks.
- Pour plenty of water over spent fireworks.
- Stay sober, and appoint a responsible adult to supervise.
- Keep body parts away from them, never point or throw one at a person, and never relight a dud.
Gatherings. At concerts, festivals and sporting events, find the exits, medical tents and security staff on arrival, and pick a meeting spot. Make sure your phone receives Wireless Emergency Alerts, check the forecast, and tell event staff or law enforcement about anything suspicious. The FEMA App gives real-time weather and emergency alerts for up to five locations.
Water. Children can drown in as little as 2 inches of water, and FEMA says drownings are 100% preventable.
Illustration from FEMA's #SummerReady campaign.
- Watch children in or near water at all times; install barriers, covers and alarms around pools and spas; and use compliant drain covers, teaching children to keep away from them.
- Learn to swim, teach children, and learn CPR for children and adults.
- Swim with a friend, and at a beach or lake only where a lifeguard is on duty.
- Check the local beach forecast for rip currents. In a thunderstorm, get out of the water.
- Never dive without knowing how deep the water is.
Boats. Wear a life jacket, the one you will actually wear. Check the marine forecast from weather.gov/marine or a NOAA Weather Radio before leaving, and see the Coast Guard's boating safety pages and federal requirements for recreational boats.
Hotels and rentals. Choose hotels with hard-wired smoke alarms and sprinklers in every guest room, read the evacuation plan, and count the doors between your room and the nearest exits. Short-term rentals are not regulated like hotels, so make sure everyone knows the address, working smoke alarms are in every sleeping room, outside each sleeping area and on every level, and you have an outside meeting place.
Grilling.
A 3-foot safety zone around the grill (FEMA illustration).
Grill outside, keep a 3-foot zone clear of siding, deck rails and eaves, and open a gas grill's lid before lighting. Clean it after each use, and put charcoal and ash in a lidded metal can once cool.
Sources
- Federal Emergency Management Agency, Get #SummerReady, Ready.gov; rewritten in hubnx's own words.
Licence: CC0 1.0 (public domain) · Adapted from www.ready.gov
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