American Fitness

FIVE AT 535 ON YOUR HEALTH TONIGHT. PROTECTING YOUR FAMILY FROM HOT TEMPERATURES THIS SUMMER. THERES NOW A NEW NATIONAL TOOL TO HELP YOU MEASURE THE RISK. HERE TO EXPLAIN IS DOCTOR ALI RAJA, DEPUTY CHAIR OF THE DEPARTMENT OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE AT MASS GENERAL HOSPITAL. GOOD TO SEE YOU, DOCTOR. YOU TOO. JESSICA. ALL RIGHT. DOCTOR. ROGER. MORE THAN TWO THIRDS OF ALL AMERICANS WERE UNDER HEAT ALERTS LAST YEAR. CERTAINLY. WEVE HAD SOME HOT DAYS, EVEN HERE IN NEW ENGLAND. SO WHATS THE IMPACT ON YOUR AIR? ITS PRETTY SIGNIFICANT. BEN. SO BETWEEN MAY AND SEPTEMBER, WE DEFINITELY SEE MORE HEAT RELATED ILLNESSES AND OTHER TIMES OF THE YEAR. BUT ITS NOT JUST US. LIKE YOU SAID, ITS ITS A GROWING TREND ACROSS THE COUNTRY. SO JUST THIS PAST WEEK, THE CDC PUBLISHED DATA THAT SHOWED THAT THE INCIDENCE OF HEAT RELATED ILLNESS SEEN IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS HAS BEEN GOING UP EACH OF THE PAST FIVE YEARS. SO WHILE ITS WORST IN THE SOUTH, ITS SOMETHING WERE SEEING ALL ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WE KNOW THE CDC SAYS HEAT RELATED DEATHS AND ILLNESSES, OF COURSE, ARE PREVENTABLE. SO HOW WOULD THIS NEW TOOL HELP WITH THAT? ITS ACTUALLY REALLY POTENTIALLY USEFUL. JESSICA AS PLAYING AROUND WITH IT TODAY. ITS CALLED THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HEAT RISK TOOL, AND YOU CAN EASILY FIND IT ONLINE. SO YOU CAN LOOK AT THE UPCOMING WEEK AND YOU CAN SEE WHAT THE POTENTIAL IMPACT OF THE HEAT MIGHT BE, AND YOU CAN CHANGE YOUR ACTIVITIES ACCORDINGLY. SO IF IF YOUVE GOT IF YOURE AN OLDER ADULT, IF YOUVE GOT ASTHMA OR KIDNEY OR HEART DISEASE, YOURE PREGNANT, YOU CAN LOOK AT IT AND PLAN OUT WHAT YOURE GOING TO DO OVER THE NEXT WEEK. AND MAYBE CHANGE THINGS IF ITS GOING TO BE TOO HOT. SO, AS YOU KNOW, DOCTOR ROGER, A LOT OF THE HOMES IN NEW ENGLAND DONT HAVE AIR CONDITIONING. SO IN YOUR OPINION, IS THAT BECOMING A PUBLIC HEALTH PROBLEM? I THINK IT IS. BEN. YOU KNOW, THESE HIGHER TEMPERATURES ARE LIKELY HERE TO STAY. AND AND SO THE SUMMER HEAT IS GOING TO POTENTIALLY BE MORE DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE WITHOUT AIR CONDITIONING. AND THATS ALREADY THE PEOPLE AMONGST US WHO ARE MOST VULNERABLE IN TERMS OF HEALTH RISKS. SO WERE ALL GOING TO HAVE TO COME TOGETHER ON THIS, WHETHER ITS THE CITY SETTING UP COOLING CENTERS AND MORE GREEN SPACE OR INDIVIDUALLY, US TAKING SMALL STEPS LIKE INVITING YOUR OLDER NEIGHBOR OVER WHEN ITS REALLY HOT OUT NOW THAT, LIKE YOU SAID, THIS IS BECOMING A PUBLIC HEALTH RISK. ALL OF US ARE GOING TO HAVE TO PITCH IN TO KEEP PEOPLE SAFE. THIS IS GOOD INFORMATION TO GET AHEAD OF IT BEFORE WE GET A HEAT WAVE COMING. ALL RIGHT, DOCTOR ALI