Building Heat Resilience: Takeaways from the 3rd Annual Southern Arizona Heat Summit

SCORCH team members, including graduate and undergraduate students, facilitated two of the interactive breakout sessions in collaboration with the Pima County Health Department (PCHD), Pima County Joint Technical Education District (JTED), and the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) of Southern Arizona. 

The Extreme Heat and Public Health: Prioritizing Risks and Effective Communication breakout session, co-facilitated by PCHD, focused on identifying key health risks during extreme heat events and crafting creative solutions to protect vulnerable populations. Participants from government agencies, healthcare organizations, advocacy groups, and schools explored behaviors that increase heat risk, effective community-level protective actions, and strategies for improving communication and messaging around heat safety. MEZCOPH graduate students (Imran Hossain Mithu, Royani Saha, Victor Okpanachi, Ozlem Erol, Shunrang Chin, and Jaylin Alkire) supported the discussions by documenting participant feedback that will inform heat communications and messaging this upcoming heat season.. 

Youth Voices in Heat Resilience: From Experience to Action, co-facilitated by MRCSA, introduced the Youth Heat Education & Action Together (HEAT) Ambassador Program, aimed at supporting young people in developing their own heat mitigation solutions. Participants brainstormed ways to provide heat relief in schools and offered feedback on how the program could be refined for different communities. The session was co-led by undergraduate Honors student Harini Arumugam Gandhimathi and MEZCOPH graduate student Cheryl Valdez. 

SCORCH students took time to reflect on their summit experience-  what resonated most, what surprised them, and what they would carry forward. Many were struck by the wide range of people working to address extreme heat. As Alkire observed, there “truly was a place for everyone to have an impact,” from youth advocates to clinical professionals to emergency responders. Erol echoed this, emphasizing that no single person or sector can tackle the problem alone; it requires combined efforts with a shared goal. She noted that “everyone and every effort counts” and highlighted the importance of collaboration and partnerships, listening, and having mutual respect.  
 
For Okpanachi, the most significant takeaway was “a promise for a brighter future with children,” remarking that the young panelists “offered practical solutions that, if implemented, will have both immediate and lasting positive effect.” Chin found it refreshing to see youth “actually centered in the conversation,” sharing firsthand how heat impacts their lives and added “Youth engagement is important in policy decisions, especially ones that impact them!”  

Attendees also left with concrete ideas to carry forward. Gandhimathi plans to expand hands-on activities in the youth heat ambassador program, emphasizing the art component of the STEAM education curriculum she is developing for her SCORCH internship. Across the board, reflections underscored that effective heat response depends not only on programs and services, but on making sure people can understand, trust, and use what’s available – meeting communities where they are, in their own language and context.