DPH’s Office of Climate and Health rolls out extreme-heat training module and local preparedness toolkit

The Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Office of Climate and Health on the meeting presented an "extreme heat" training module intended for local health departments and an accompanying adaptable preparedness toolkit that state staff said will be available online and via CT Train and may be offered as a webinar.

The module, presented by Madhumita (Madhu), a health program assistant with the Office of Climate and Health at DPH, frames extreme heat as a growing public-health threat, provides definitions (heat index, urban heat island, heat wave), summarizes health impacts and vulnerable populations, and lists short- and long-term adaptation strategies. “This module aims to support local health departments in understanding extreme heat risks, identifying vulnerable populations, implementing adaptation strategies, and strengthening resilience,” Madhu said during the walkthrough.

DPH staff said the toolkit is part of BRACE grant work and that the web-hosted template is a downloadable Word document municipalities can adapt. Jen Wong, executive director of the Yale Center on Climate Change and Health, said the toolkit’s template includes activation phases, stakeholder roles, communications materials and appendices for local planning; the toolkit’s landing page also links to example programs in other states and a webinar recording from a December launch. The template, she said, was updated to include PM2.5 in addition to ozone and to broaden vulnerable-population guidance.

Presenters cited Connecticut-specific data included in the module: statewide mean temperatures that have risen about 3.5 degrees Fahrenheit since the early 20th century and an estimate that heat accounts for about 0.67% of warm-season deaths with extreme-heat days contributing about 0.28%. The module also draws on Yale Center work and a Connecticut heat-vulnerability index showing higher vulnerability in historically redlined areas.

Attendees raised operational and equity issues local health departments would face implementing the toolkit. Mark Mitchell, a public-health and environmental-health physician, urged emphasis on early-season acclimatization and community-based cooling sites, noting “communities may not want to go to certain centers” and recommending libraries, churches and volunteer-run sites be considered as cooling locations. Attendees also recommended including lists of medications that increase heat vulnerability, guidance for pets and service animals, and outreach strategies for people who lack air conditioning or who are precariously housed.

Discussion included practical measures that local governments or partners could adopt: wet-bulb globe temperature integration into heat alerts, volunteer “check-in” programs for vulnerable residents, mobile cooling or portable heat-pump strategies, and resilience hubs led by community-based organizations. DPH staff asked for local examples and barriers so the module and toolkit can be refined before broader deployment.

DPH staff said the toolkit will remain an evolving public resource; they invited feedback by email and noted some components—templates, infographics, and a recorded webinar—are already live on the DPH site. The presenters also said the module may be hosted as a webinar and will be uploaded to CT Train when finalized.

DPH staff asked local health department participants to identify the heat tools they currently use; the presenters specifically asked whether integrating humidity via wet-bulb globe temperature tools (the CBC heat-tracker was cited as an example) would be useful for local practice.

The presenters said the BRACE grant team will continue to refine the materials with local feedback and that the toolkit is intended both to support pilot grant awardees and to serve any Connecticut municipality seeking to adapt portions of the template.

Less critical details and next steps: DPH staff will circulate slides, the recorded webinar and the template link; local departments were invited to provide written feedback and success stories. DPH also said it will consider spotlighting promising local programs—such as volunteer check-in systems and portable cooling pilots—in future updates.