How extreme heat harms CT residents: Impacts are far-reaching

Michele Conderino, the executive director of Open Doors, a Norwalk-based homeless service provider, said that the wildfire smoke from Canada last summer fundamentally changed the way Connecticut providers thought about environmental threats to people experiencing homelessness.

“When we’ve talked about extreme weather historically, we’ve talked about winter and cold weather,” said Conderino. “This summer, when our heat spiked, we were very deliberate about going out every single day, multiple times a day.”

For the past few summers, Conderino said, street outreach has included strategies to mitigate the effects of heat waves, like offering people ice cold water and freeze pops, as well as reminding them that they could go to a cooling center to get out of the heat. Conderino added that increased funding for outreach work, partnerships with medical providers and adequate space for people to find shelter could also help people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in periods of extreme weather.

Read more at https://ctmirror.org/2024/09/19/ct-extreme-heat-impacts-emergency-room/