Abstract
Local agencies in New York State (NYS) set up cooling centers to provide relief from summer-time heat especially for people with limited access to air-conditioning. We aimed to determine cooling center locations in NYS, and explore county agencies' involvement in organizing and promoting utilization of cooling centers. We conducted a survey among county health and emergency preparedness offices in NYS (excluding NYC) and explored official county websites. We identified 377 cooling centers, mostly in metropolitan areas of NYS. Although 47% of counties listed locations online, only 29% reported locations via survey. Radio (90%) and internet (84%) were popular for information dissemination. Air-conditioning was available at all indoor cooling center facilities. Cooling centers in 13% of the counties were accessible by either public transportation or shuttles arranged by the facility. About 38% counties do not consider cooling centers important in their region or promote informal cooling centers. More than a third of New York counties had neither cooling centers nor plans to establish a cooling center as extreme heat was not perceived as a threat in their region.
Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
