Officials in America’s hottest metropolitan area are working to better protect people amid temperatures that have already reached triple digits this spring.(Metro Phoenix)
Pearl Marion, who was afraid of being molested in a shelter, couchsurfed with family and friends over last year’s scorching summer to avoid sleeping outside.
This year, the 65-year-old woman intends to spend Phoenix’s dangerously hot summer evenings in a former cafeteria at the city’s major library, sleeping in a chair with her head on a table. There’s cool air, cold water, and security guards to deter people from snatching her bus pass.
Also read-The CDC Is Preparing For The Possibility Of An Increased Human Health Risk From Bird Flu
Metro Phoenix
Marion commented, “I love this place,” as a half-dozen other folks napped and charged their phones. Newcomers were asked if they required assistance with housing, substance misuse, or air conditioner repair.
It is one of two overnight facilities that opened in early May following Maricopa County’s astonishing 645 heat-related deaths last year, over 50% more than the 425 reported for 2022.
Arizona Gov. Katie Hobbs issued a state of emergency in 2023 after metro Phoenix endured a 31-day streak of temperatures above 110 degrees Fahrenheit (43.3 degrees Celsius). Phoenix’s high temperature has already reached 100 F (37.7 C) many times this year.
Metro Phoenix Is Changing Tactics
“People need cooling centers to be open longer hours and on weekends,” said Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, medical director of the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. “The other important piece we learned is that people need help finding cooling centers and other heat relief resources.”
RECORD DEATHS
The record deaths occurred as Maricopa County led the United States in growth during a housing crisis marked by rising rents and evictions. As the county’s homeless population grew to more than 9,600 last year, climate change raised temperatures.
Maricopa County’s first heat-related death of 2023 was recorded on April 11, when 42-year-old Crystal Gradilla was discovered in a tent in a desert location when the high reached 99 F (37.2 C).
By mid-summer 2023, the county medical examiner’s office reported that body storage was nearly full and had ten refrigeration trucks on standby. While the additional storage was unnecessary, it was evident that more needed to be done, particularly to protect the homeless, who accounted for 45% of deaths in Arizona’s most populated county.
Metro Phoenix Is Changing Tactics
WORKING TO DO BETTER
This year, officials in Phoenix, Maricopa County, and Arizona are trying to improve public safety measures.
Dr. Eugene Livar, the first heat officer in the United States, has been appointed to carry out the governor’s extreme heat readiness strategy. Phoenix will hire the nation’s first city heat officer in 2021.
At least two cooling centers in metro Phoenix will be open overnight, while others will have longer hours, including some weekend days.
A contact center staffed by 30 language community health workers assists consumers in finding clinics, paying power bills, and repairing home cooling equipment.
In previous years, the 170 cooling centers dispersed across metro Phoenix from May to October often closed when the business day finished at 5 p.m. due to excessive temperatures.
Metro Phoenix Is Changing Tactics
PROTECTING HOMELESS PEOPLE
Officials and health professionals expect that fewer homeless people will die this summer as a result of a court order forcing the city to dismantle a downtown Phoenix encampment known as “The Zone,” which housed up to 1,200 people under the hot sun.
Hundreds sought shelter or found lodging. Approximately 150 individuals moved their tents to a neighboring campground on city-purchased land.
Security guards search everyone staying there for drugs, alcohol, and weapons. There are facilities, showers, and an air-conditioned warehouse where up to 200 people may eat and avoid the heat.
In recent years, hundreds of additional shelter beds have been added around metro Phoenix. A big downtown campus has shelters with almost 900 beds. St. Vincent de Paul is completing a 100-bed shelter for older individuals, military veterans, and the disabled, which will open this summer.
Maricopa County’s annual homeless count in January revealed a somewhat smaller population than the previous year, with more than half now staying in shelters.
ELSEWHERE IN ARIZONA
While Phoenix is well-known for its scorching weather, several Arizona villages experience even higher temperatures.
On June 29, 1994, Lake Havasu City recorded the state’s highest temperature of 128 degrees Fahrenheit (53.3 Celsius). Dario Mendoza, a 26-year-old farmworker from southwestern Yuma County, died on July 20 after collapsing in a field as the temperature reached 116 degrees Fahrenheit (46.6 Celsius).
Last year, there were 176 heat-related deaths in Pima County, which includes Arizona’s second-most populous city of Tucson, and another 51 in the five other rural counties overseen by the medical examiner.
Pima County’s top medical examiner, Dr. Greg Hess, said his office can better track and identify heat-related deaths after hiring an epidemiologist and implementing a new web dashboard.
Hess believes that following and publicizing heat-related mortality can inspire change, just as tracking fatal overdoses sparked the fight against the opioid problem.
“Investigating heat deaths has to be intentional,” he stated.
Also read-Stay Safe From The Sun And That Backyard Grill On Memorial Day
images source: Google
Disclaimer: The opinions and suggestions expressed in this article are solely those of the individual analysts. These are not the opinions of HNN. For more, please consult with your doctor
