{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,27]],"date-time":"2026-10-27T00:12:01Z","timestamp":1793059921477,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"12","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2011,12,16]],"date-time":"2011-12-16T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1323993600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["IJERPH"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Heat Alert and Response Systems (HARS) are currently undergoing testing and implementation in Canada. These programs seek to reduce the adverse health effects of heat waves on human health by issuing weather forecasts and warnings, informing individuals about possible protections from excessive heat, and providing such protections to vulnerable subpopulations and individuals at risk. For these programs to be designed effectively, it is important to know how individuals perceive the heat, what their experience with heat-related illness is, how they protect themselves from excessive heat, and how they acquire information about such protections. In September 2010, we conducted a survey of households in 5 cities in Canada to study these issues. At the time of the survey, these cities had not implemented heat outreach and response systems. The study results indicate that individuals\u2019 recollections of recent heat wave events were generally accurate. About 21% of the sample reported feeling unwell during the most recent heat spell, but these illnesses were generally minor. Only in 25 cases out of 243, these illnesses were confirmed or diagnosed by a health care professional. The rate at which our respondents reported heat-related illnesses was higher among those with cardiovascular and respiratory illnesses, was higher among younger respondents and bore no relationship with the availability of air conditioning at home. Most of the respondents indicated that they would not dismiss themselves as \u201cnot at risk\u201d and that they would cope with excessive heat by staying in air conditioned environments and keeping well hydrated. Despite the absence of heat outreach and education programs in their city, our respondents at least a rough idea of how to take care of themselves. The presence of air conditioning and knowledge of cooling centers is location-specific, which provides opportunities for targeting HARS interventions.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/ijerph8124679","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2011,12,16]],"date-time":"2011-12-16T10:59:02Z","timestamp":1324033142000},"page":"4679-4701","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":43,"title":["Individual and Public-Program Adaptation: Coping with Heat Waves in Five Cities in Canada"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"8","author":[{"given":"Anna","family":"Alberini","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"AREC, 2200 Symons Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA"},{"name":"School of Biological Sciences and Institute for a Sustainable World, Queen\u2019s University Belfast, Medical Biology Centre, 97 Lisburn Road, Belfast BT9 7BL, UK"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Will","family":"Gans","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"AREC, 2200 Symons Hall, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Mustapha","family":"Alhassan","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Clark B-320, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,12,16]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"(2001). IPCC, 2000. Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability. The Contribution of Working Group II to the Third Scientific Assessment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Cambridge University Press."},{"key":"ref_2","unstructured":"Available online:http:\/\/www.ipcc.ch\/publications_and_data\/ar4\/wg2\/en\/contents.html."},{"key":"ref_3","unstructured":"Heat stroke, or heat illness, is the result of exposure to extreme temperatures and the failure of the body to regulate its temperature. The immediate effects include dizziness, fatigue, and nausea. If untreated, heat illness may result in coma and death. Immediate medical attention is needed to prevent heat stroke to be fatal."},{"key":"ref_4","unstructured":"(2006). 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A Scan of Municipal Heat\/Health Watch Warning Systems and Hot Weather Response Plans; Report, The Greater Toronto Area Clean Air Council."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1007\/s00484-006-0052-9","article-title":"A survey of public perception and response to heat warnings across four North American cities: An evaluation of municipal effectiveness","volume":"52","author":"Sheridan","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int. J. Biometeorol."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"43","DOI":"10.1007\/s00484-006-0073-4","article-title":"The social impacts of the heat\u2013health watch\/warning system in Phoenix, Arizona: Assessing the perceived risk and response of the public","volume":"52","author":"Kalkstein","year":"2007","journal-title":"Int. J. Biometeorol."},{"key":"ref_23","unstructured":"Environment Canada reports that \u201cThe national average temperature for the summer of 2010 in Canada was 1.3 \u00b0C above normal, based on preliminary data, which makes this the third warmest summer on record since nationwide records began in 1948. The record summer continues to be 1998 which was 1.8 \u00b0C above normal, and 2006 is still in second also at 1.3 \u00b0C above normal. At 0.8 \u00b0C below normal, the summer of 1968 is the coolest. As the mean temperature departures map below shows, most of the country was above normal, with some areas in the Arctic, northern Quebec, and central Ontario more than 2 \u00b0C above normal. An area over the southern Prairies was slightly cooler than normal. With this past spring and winter being the warmest on record, as shown in the consecutive seasons graph, and along with the warm summer, 2010 has set a record as the warmest first eight months of a year, 3.3 \u00b0C above normal, beating out 2006 which previously held the record at 2.6 \u00b0C above normal\u201d, 2011. Environment Canada web site. Available online:http:\/\/www.ec.gc.ca\/adsc-cmda\/default.asp?lang=En&n=30EDCA67-1 (last accessed on 8 August 2011)."},{"key":"ref_24","unstructured":"Extreme Heat. Available online:http:\/\/www.hc-sc.gc.ca\/ahc-asc\/media\/video\/chaleur-extreme-heat-eng.php."},{"key":"ref_25","unstructured":"Health Canada selected the City of Windsor to participate in a pilot project to initiate a Heat Alert and Response System (HARS) in Canada. Health Canada reports that \u201cFour cities have been identified as hot spots and include a variation in the population size and location. The other cities chosen are Fredericton, New Brunswick, and Winnipeg and Assiniboine, both in Manitoba. The pilot program is currently underway and is expected to be completed by spring of 2011. This pilot project will help the City of Windsor and the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit identify the best ways to announce a heat alert, inform and protect the population before, during and following a heat alert, and deactivate a heat alert. The goal is to reduce the number of heat-related deaths by educating and informing the public on what to do during a heat event.\u201d CBC News, Manitoba. Province Working on Heat Emergency Plan, 2011. CBC Web site. Available online: http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/manitoba\/story\/2011\/07\/20\/mb-heat-plan-provincial.html (accessed on 14 December 2011). Heat Alert and Response System Pilot, 2011. City of Windsor, Canada Web site. 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Proceedings of the 14th Conference on Applied Climatology, Symposium on Planning, Nowcasting, and Forecasting in the Urban Zone, Seattle, WA, USA."},{"key":"ref_32","unstructured":"WFO Non-Precipitation Weather Products Specification, NWS Instruction 10-515, Operations and Services, Public Weather Service, NWSPF 10-5, November 2005. Available online:http:\/\/www.nws.noaa.gov\/directives."},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1067","DOI":"10.1175\/BAMS-85-8-1067","article-title":"Heat watch\/warning systems save lives: Estimated cost and benefits for Philadelphia 1995-98","volume":"85","author":"Kristie","year":"2004","journal-title":"Bull. Am. Meteorol. Soc."},{"key":"ref_34","unstructured":"Heat Advice. Available online:http:\/\/www.ncceh.ca\/en\/major_projects\/heat_advice."},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Kirch, W., Menne, B., and Bertollini, R. (2005). Extreme Weather Events and Public Health Responses, Springer-Verlag.","DOI":"10.1007\/3-540-28862-7"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"173","DOI":"10.1002\/met.198","article-title":"Public perception of and response to severe weather warnings in Nova Scotia, Canada","volume":"17","author":"Silver","year":"2010","journal-title":"Meteorol. Appl."},{"key":"ref_37","unstructured":"Three quarters of the sample check the weather forecast at least once a day. The most popular ways of checking the weather forecast are on TV (71.25%), on-line (62.84%), on the radio (36.20%), and in the newspapers (14.46%)."}],"container-title":["International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/8\/12\/4679\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,11]],"date-time":"2025-10-11T21:58:22Z","timestamp":1760219902000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/1660-4601\/8\/12\/4679"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2011,12,16]]},"references-count":37,"journal-issue":{"issue":"12","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2011,12]]}},"alternative-id":["ijerph8124679"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/ijerph8124679","relation":{},"ISSN":["1660-4601"],"issn-type":[{"value":"1660-4601","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2011,12,16]]}}}