Abstract

The Heat Action Plan Toolkit presents guidance and resources to help North Carolina communities prepare for extreme heat.

With climate change driving more frequent and intense heat events, the state's Heat Action Plan Toolkit aims to help communities adapt and build resilience to extreme heat. Primarily targeted for use by local governments, including health and emergency management departments, the toolkit focuses on approaches to reduce the human health impacts of increasing temperatures and heat waves.

Designed for communities in North Carolina, the Heat Action Plan Toolkit includes: 

• Background information on the importance of addressing extreme heat
• A heat action plan template for communities
• Guidance on how to identify groups most at risk to extreme heat in local jurisdictions
• Recommendations for when to activate different parts of your heat action plan locally
• Sample messaging and graphics for communicating with residents (Algunos materiales están disponibles en español.)
• Sample checklists and protocols for cooling centers and other heat relief resources

The idea for the Heat Action Plan Toolkit arose from the state’s Regions Innovating for Strong Economies and Environment (RISE) Program. Aware of the increasing need to address the health impacts of extreme heat, stakeholders from three regions participating in the RISE Regional Resilience Portfolio Program included a heat action plan template in their respective lists of priority resilience projects. With multiple regions highlighting this project, the NC Office of Recovery and Resiliency (NCORR) sought to build a template and accompanying toolkit relevant to local governments across the state.

Affiliated Organizations

North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services

In collaboration with our partners, DHHS provides essential services to improve the health, safety and well-being of all North Carolinians.

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Nicholas School for the Environment at Duke University

The Nicholas School of the Environment is one of the world’s premier graduate and professional schools for the interdisciplinary study of the environment and the development of pathways for a sustainable future.

Located in the heart of Duke University’s campus, the school functions as an intellectual hub, drawing input from all disciplines at Duke – law, business, policy, medicine, science, social science, engineering
and divinity – and extending that expertise to citizens, governments,
industry and conservation organizations worldwide.

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