Second week in May to become Heat Awareness Week

PIMA COUNTY, May 8, 2024 - The Pima County Board of Supervisors at its May 7 meeting approved a resolution declaring May 6-10 as Heat Awareness Week and that the second week of May will annually be recognized as such to build public awareness of the effects of summer heat, especially on public health.  

In 2023, there were 176 heat-related deaths in Pima County.The age range of the people who died varied from young teens to people over 90.  

“We hope that people will see these numbers from last year and remind themselves that heat-related deaths can happen to anyone,” said Dr. Theresa Cullen, Pima County Public Health Department director. “Just because you’ve lived in Tucson for a long time doesn’t mean you are ‘adapted’ to these extremely high temperatures.” 

The Arizona Department of Health Services at a press conference May 3 in Phoenix commemorated the statewide Heat Awareness Week and denoted collaborative heat mitigation and resiliency efforts across the state. Pima County- based cooling centers—including libraries, Rio Nuevo One-Stop Center, and Kino One-Stop Service Center—will be operational starting May 31, 2024.  Cooling centers provide: 

• Air-conditioned facility 
• Sitting area to take a break from the heat 
• Drinking fountains 
• Refillable water bottles 
• You can find a map of locations on our Cooling Centers webpage 
• Hours of operations are determined by each cooling center 

Arizona Governor Katie Hobbs created the first-ever Heat Officer position – held by Dr. Eugene Livar -- to support statewide heat response efforts. Pima County departments will create and deploy a comprehensive heat response in alignment with state direction and coalition partners. 

The July 2023 climate report for Tucson said it was the hottest on record, and August was the third hottest on record. Scientists say summers will only get hotter and longer each year. Since 1952, summer has increased by 17 days on average, around the world. 

Extreme heat can be dangerous in other ways as well. People who take certain medications are at greater risk of overheating. The same goes for people who work outdoors, people with certain conditions, like lung and heart disease, pregnant people, children, and the elderly. 

The inside of cars can reach deadly high temperatures in a matter of minutes, even when the windows are cracked, so parents and pet owners should never leave either in a car while running errands. People who see a child or pet left in a hot car should immediately call 911. When it comes to outdoor pets, all owners must provide proper shade, shelter, food, water, and vet care .