Summer Heat Toolkit
Prepare for the Summer Heat Heading link
Summer weather means barbecues, baseball, and parades. But, it also can mean heat and heat-related illness. Extreme heat can lead to heat rash, heat cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke, a condition that can result in death. Extreme heat has caused deaths throughout Illinois, in rural and in urban counties.
Projected changes in climate indicate that extreme heat events are likely to become more frequent and longer lasting. Local agencies are critical in protecting their communities from environmental hazards like heat.
What can I do?
To strengthen existing heat illness prevention efforts, here are some strategies and tools that local health departments (LHDs) and/or local Emergency Management Agencies (EMAs) can use during the summer to protect the communities they serve. These include:
- Monitoring excessive heat information from the National Weather Service
- Actions based on the National Weather Service messages
- Sample communication messages
- Sources for additional information