Emergency Heat Plan

Create a plan for what to do during an extreme heat event. This can be as small as two neighbours making a plan to check in on each other, or a more formalized document shared across residents. Once you have figured out who will be part of your heat plan, below you will find suggested components that you can adapt to the specific needs of your building and community.

Example of proposed heat plan elements:

Identifying heat risks and how to respond: Cover the signs of heat exhaustion alongside the physiological and environmental factors that raise risk during extreme heat, and how to mitigate them. (Examples: NYC’s Be a Buddy Pamphlet, Toronto’s Keep Cool webpage.)

Community asset mapping: At the building scale, map your community’s strengths and resources. This includes finding neighbours with cars willing to drive others to appointments or cooling centres, researching nearby cooling centres and air-conditioned public spaces (libraries, community centres, malls, cafes), and exploring whether your building can create a cooling room.

Wellness check and escalation protocols: Survey residents on their preferences during a heat wave to implement a Buddy System. You may want to think about the following

• Would you like to be checked on, and how?
• What should we do if you don’t respond?
• At what temperature or forecast would you want a check-in?
• Do you know other neighbours who’d want check-ins?
• Would you volunteer to check on others?
• Does your building already have a list of ‘at risk’ individuals that they need to check-in on in an emergency? Is this a list you can leverage?

Host a series of heat-related talks: You may want to have staff from your local Paramedics, Fire Services, and Public Health to come in to talk about what you should consider when creating an emergency heat plan, or an emergency kit.

Supplies preparation list: Brainstorm supplies useful in a heat emergency (fans, bottled water, cooling packs, etc. — see general emergency supply lists and heatwave-specific guides), where to get or store them, and whether to stock up in advance. Record everything in a secure, shared location accessible to more than one person — an email thread, physical copy, or some combination. You may want to refer to Hey Neighbour’s Connect and Prepare Resources for other examples.