Heat-Related Illness

Advocates are looking to lawmakers to increase protections for outdoor workers after Florida saw a rising number of excessive heat warnings this summer.

Death certificates don’t always reflect the role that extreme heat played in ending a life, even when it seems obvious it was a factor. That imprecision harms efforts to better protect people from extreme heat.

With this dangerous heat wave forecasted to keep smothering the southern U.S. and Florida the next several weeks, it is important to know the key differences between heat-related illnesses.

AdventHealth emergency departments have seen a 20% increase in patients seeking care for heat-related illnesses this summer, and urgent care locations in the network have seen an increase of 115%.

Lawanna Gelzer created the Extreme Heat Task Force in Orlando to help spread awareness of the dangers of these rising temperatures and overexposure to heat.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has taken steps that effectively eliminate mandated water breaks for construction workers. In response, protesters came to Washington, D.C., to press for federal protections.

The National Weather Service on Tuesday said a lengthy and dangerous heat wave will continue in South Florida and other parts of the country.

Farmworker Association of Central Florida’s Jeannie Economos said there’s bipartisan support for the bill, but it still hasn’t been read by a committee in the House or Senate.

High humidity limits the ability for sweat to evaporate off our skin and cool. This, in addition to warming night temperatures, makes it difficult for the body to get any respite from heat.

Farmworkers have long faced dangers from laboring outside in sweltering heat. As climate change raises temperatures, heat illness could come for far more people.

The Pentagon says reported cases of heat exhaustion jumped nearly 50 percent between 2014 and 2018.