Heatwaves - Health Impacts
"A heatwave refers to a prolonged period of abnormally hot weather which may be accompanied by high humidity. While there is no generally accepted definition of a heatwave, in Ireland it's classified as 5 consecutive days with a maximum temperature in excess of 25 degrees Celsius". (Met Eireann)
Heatwaves are associated with environmental effects and these can cause public health impacts such as:
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Environmental Effect |
Potential Health Impact |
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High temperature |
Heat stress, heat exhaustion, heatstroke indoors especially for sick or elderly people Health stress, heat exhaustion heatstroke outdoors especially for outdoor workers and homeless Public Health Advice to minimise risk
Additional things to consider during heatwaves: Child safety - sun and outdoor safety and water safety Water safety for adults and children (from gov.ie) Foodborne illness associated with barbeques, breaches in temperature control (from hpsc.ie) Waterborne illness due to altered water management systems Legionellosis due to temperature control breaches in water systems, or in compost (from hpsc.ie) |
|
Longer hours of direct sunlight |
|
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Increased risk of infection |
|
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Wildfires |
Injuries |
Please click into the above for more information and general health advice.
Updated 18/7/2022