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Q1. What is one recommendation or take away message that you’d like our audience to take away as we enter another heat season? And/or, can you speak about your work in extreme heat and its impact on outdoor workers? (Note: Responses are paraphrased.)

Panelists: Emma Torres, Jason Glaser, and Kate Ellingson

Emma

Emphasized the important work of grassroots community health workers/promotoras as a frontline defense in mitigating the occupational health risks of extreme heat by providing education to farmworkers and their family members on the dangers extreme heat poses, especially for those who labor at a high intensity, and ways to decrease these risks.

Jason

La Isla Network’s occupational health research has documented the impact on rising temperatures that both erodes food productivity and exacerbates poverty cycles.

There is a well-documented (data-driven), simple, evidenced-based framework of Rest, Shade, Hydration (RSH) or WRS (water, rest, shade) demonstrated in Central America and piloted across Europe and Asia, showing how these strategies can dramatically reduce illness and save lives. These low-cost scalable solutions must become global occupational standards as the planet warms.

Kate

When citing heat-related hospitalizations data from the 2024 heat season, Kate reflected on the inequity of outdoor workers experiencing disproportionate risk.