Abstract
BackgroundHeat wave early warning systems help alert decision-makers and the public to prepare for hot weather and implement preventive actions to protect health. Prior to harmonization, public health units across Ontario either used independent systems with varying methodologies for triggering and issuing public heat warnings or did not use any system. The federal government also issued heat warnings based on different criteria. During heat events, adjacent public health units in Ontario and the federal government would routinely call heat warnings at different times with separate public messages, leading to confusion. This article describes the collaborative process and key steps in developing a harmonized Heat Warning and Information System (HWIS) for Ontario.SettingPublic health units across Ontario, Canada, collaborated with the federal and provincial government to develop the harmonized HWIS for Ontario.InterventionIn 2011, stakeholders identified the need to develop a harmonized system across Ontario to improve heat warning services, warning criteria, and health messaging. Through a 5-year process facilitated by a non-governmental organization, the three levels of government collaborated to establish the Ontario HWIS.OutcomesThe province-wide HWIS was implemented in 2016 with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s release of the harmonized HWIS Standard Operating Practice, which outlined the notification and warning process.ImplicationsThe lessons learned could help spur action in other provinces and jurisdictions internationally in the development of similar health evidence-based warning systems, including in particular those for protecting public health during extreme heat events.
Highlights
ContextHeat wave early warning systems alert the public and health officials to impending hot weather and activate interventions to protect the public from the negative health impacts from extreme heat
Beginning in 2012, public health units (PHUs) across Ontario worked with various partners to develop a province-wide Heat Warning and Information System (HWIS)
Survey respondents provided positive feedback on the HWIS, acknowledging improvement over the previous patchwork of heat warning systems and sharing their heat health activities including outreach to vulnerable populations, monitoring health impacts, and evaluating heat health efforts. These surveys provided a way to measure the success of the harmonized HWIS in that they identified an increase in evidence-based public health practice, in particular the use of Ontario-specific health evidence to establish heat warning triggers
Summary
ContextHeat wave early warning systems alert the public and health officials to impending hot weather and activate interventions to protect the public from the negative health impacts from extreme heat. Implications The lessons learned could help spur action in other provinces and jurisdictions internationally in the development of similar health evidence-based warning systems, including in particular those for protecting public health during extreme heat events. Beginning in 2012, public health units (PHUs) across Ontario worked with various partners to develop a province-wide Heat Warning and Information System (HWIS).
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