Health Officer Statement on Extreme Heat

June 27, 2021.Reading time 2 minutes.

person pouring water on their face in hot sun

Dr. Jeff Duchin, Health Officer for Public Health — Seattle & King County, issued the following statement in response to the current extreme heat event in our region: The record-shattering extreme heat we’re experiencing is just the latest example of our climate crisis and how it’s impacting human health now. Extreme heat is the leading […]

Who is at risk for a heart attack in the heat?

June 22, 2021.Reading time 3 minutes.

Man at a construction site is saying, "Working outside puts me at risk."

Our comic strip shows how many health conditions and medications make people more sensitive to heat, and that makes them at increased risk for kidney failure, stroke, and heart attack. Find out if you or your loved ones are at risk and what to do when the weather gets hot.

Who is most susceptible to heat? It could be YOU!

July 23, 2018.Reading time 1 minute.

Temperatures this week are expected to rise into the low 90s, with some humidity. To my friends in Los Angeles and New Mexico, that’s scarcely hot enough to raise an eyebrow. But here in King County, most people don’t have air conditioning, so our local emergency departments see an uptick of people with serious health […]

5 reasons why hot weather raises health alarms

August 1, 2017.Reading time 6 minutes.

Hot weather isn’t just uncomfortable – it can be dangerous. When temperatures are very hot in King County, we see a rise in the number of hospitalizations, Emergency Medical Service calls, and most sadly, deaths. And it’s not just heat stroke and heat exhaustion: heart problems, stroke, and kidney failure are common health problems on […]

Lessons for the Puget Sound from Chicago’s deadly Heat Wave

July 30, 2015.Reading time 4 minutes.

By Ashley Kelmore – Our hotter-than-usual summer in the Pacific Northwest likely won’t reach the extremes of the 1995 Chicago summer heat wave, which killed 733 people. But some of the issues from that catastrophe are relevant to us here and now, and Dr. Eric Klinenberg describes them in his fascinating book Heat Wave.