Chapter 26. Preparing for Extreme Heat
Extreme heat can cause dehydration, heat exhaustion, heat stroke, power failures, and worsening of existing medical conditions. Several consecutive hot days can be particularly dangerous because buildings and paved areas retain heat overnight, limiting the body’s opportunity to recover.
Residents of Pleasanton, Dublin, Livermore, San Ramon, Danville, Sunol, and surrounding Tri-Valley and Bay Area communities should prepare before a heat advisory or warning is issued. A reliable extreme-heat plan should address hydration, air-conditioned locations, medications, vulnerable residents, pets, transportation, outdoor activity, and the possibility that electricity may fail when cooling is needed most.
Monitor Heat Alerts and Indoor Conditions
Follow forecasts and alerts from the National Weather Service, local emergency-management agencies, county public-health departments, and city authorities. Pay attention to both daytime temperatures and overnight conditions.
Indoor temperatures can become dangerous even when a person remains out of direct sunlight. Consider keeping a thermometer in frequently occupied rooms, especially if older adults, infants, people with chronic illnesses, or residents without air conditioning live in the home.
The CDC’s HeatRisk Dashboard provides location-based heat forecasts and recommended protective actions. Check air quality as well because wildfire smoke and extreme heat may occur simultaneously, complicating decisions about opening windows or spending time outdoors.
Maintain Safe Hydration
Drink water regularly rather than waiting until you feel intensely thirsty. Carry water when traveling, exercising, working outdoors, or attending an outdoor event. Encourage children, older adults, and people who depend on caregivers to drink at appropriate intervals.
Avoid excessive alcohol because it can contribute to dehydration and impaired judgment. Very sugary or highly caffeinated drinks may not be the best primary source of hydration. People performing prolonged, strenuous activity may need to replace electrolytes, but individual needs vary.
Anyone who has been instructed to limit fluids because of heart, kidney, liver, or another medical condition should ask a healthcare professional how to manage hydration during extreme heat. Do not independently abandon a prescribed fluid restriction.
Create a Cooling Plan
Identify several places where household members can remain cool if the home becomes uncomfortable or unsafe. Possible locations include a cooling center, library, community center, shopping center, or the air-conditioned home of a trusted friend.
Confirm current hours, accessibility, transportation, pet policies, and whether the facility has actually been activated as a cooling center. Locations and operating schedules may change with each heat event. Alameda County posts heat-health information and cooling resources, while residents of Contra Costa County should consult their county and city emergency resources.
At home, close blinds or curtains receiving direct sun and use air conditioning safely. Fans may improve comfort, but moving hot air does not necessarily prevent heat illness when indoor temperatures are dangerously high. Take cool showers or baths and wear lightweight, loose-fitting clothing.
Check on Vulnerable Residents Early
People at increased risk may include older adults, infants, young children, pregnant people, outdoor workers, people experiencing homelessness, and individuals with heart disease, respiratory illness, diabetes, kidney disease, limited mobility, cognitive disabilities, or other chronic conditions.
Contact vulnerable relatives, friends, and neighbors early in the day. Ask specific questions:
- Is the air conditioning working?
- What is the indoor temperature?
- Is the person drinking appropriately?
- Do they have transportation to a cooler place?
- Are they experiencing headache, dizziness, nausea, weakness, or confusion?
- Do they have electricity for necessary medical equipment?
A telephone call is useful, but an in-person check by a trusted nearby person may reveal conditions that the resident does not recognize or communicate.
Review Medications and Medical Equipment
Some prescription and nonprescription medications can affect sweating, thirst, hydration, circulation, or the body’s ability to regulate temperature. Heat can also damage certain medicines and supplies.
Before hot weather arrives, ask a physician or pharmacist:
- Whether any medication increases heat-related risk
- How much fluid is appropriate
- How medication should be stored
- What to do if refrigeration or electricity fails
- Which symptoms require medical attention
Never stop, reduce, or reschedule medication without professional guidance. Do not store medicine in a hot vehicle. The CDC recommends making an individualized plan for medications, refrigerated treatments, and powered medical devices during hot weather.
Reschedule Outdoor Activity
Complete necessary outdoor work, exercise, and pet walks during cooler hours when possible. Reduce intensity, take frequent breaks in shade or air conditioning, and wear lightweight clothing and sun protection.
People who are not accustomed to hot conditions need time to adjust. Athletic ability does not provide immunity from heat illness. Outdoor workers should follow employer safety procedures and applicable heat-illness prevention requirements.
Protect Pets
Provide pets with cool indoor shelter and unrestricted access to appropriate drinking water. Limit exercise during the hottest hours and check pavement before walking an animal; surfaces can become hot enough to injure paws.
Watch for heavy panting, excessive drooling, weakness, vomiting, confusion, collapse, or other unusual behavior. Contact a veterinarian promptly if heat illness is suspected. Animals with flat faces, heavy coats, advanced age, obesity, or medical conditions may be especially vulnerable.
Never Leave Anyone in a Vehicle
Never leave a child, older adult, person with a disability, or pet in a parked vehicle—not even briefly and not with the windows partly open. Vehicle interiors can become deadly very quickly, including on days that do not initially feel extremely hot. The National Weather Service emphasizes that parked vehicles are never safe places for children, vulnerable adults, or pets.
Check the entire vehicle before locking it. Keep parked vehicles locked at home so children cannot enter unnoticed.
Prepare for Heat-Related Power Outages
High electricity demand or infrastructure damage may interrupt air conditioning, refrigeration, elevators, communication devices, and powered medical equipment.
Keep phones and power banks charged. Prepare flashlights, water, shelf-stable food, battery-operated fans where appropriate, and a battery-powered radio. Know how to open an electric garage door manually. Residents dependent on elevators or powered medical devices should make an early relocation plan.
If the home becomes dangerously hot, go to an air-conditioned location with power. Never use a generator, grill, camp stove, or fuel-burning appliance indoors or inside a garage because of the risk of fatal carbon monoxide poisoning. Ready.gov advises households to identify alternative cooling locations during power outages.
Recognize Heat Illness
Heat exhaustion may cause heavy sweating, weakness, headache, dizziness, nausea, cramps, or faintness. Move the person to a cooler place, loosen clothing, apply cool wet cloths, and seek medical guidance.
Confusion, slurred speech, loss of consciousness, seizures, or a very high body temperature may indicate heat stroke. Call 911 immediately and begin rapid cooling while awaiting emergency assistance. Do not give fluids to an unconscious or confused person.
Helpful Hint
Check on older adults and medically vulnerable neighbors early. Do not wait until someone appears visibly ill. Confirm that their cooling system works, determine whether they have safe transportation, and arrange another check later in the day.
Important Safety Reminder
Extreme heat can become life-threatening before its seriousness is obvious. If a person becomes confused, collapses, has a seizure, loses consciousness, or shows other signs of heat stroke, call 911 immediately. Move the person to a cooler location and begin cooling without delaying emergency care.
Important Preparedness and Safety Notice
This chapter provides general preparedness education, not real-time emergency instructions. Conditions, evacuation zones, routes, shelters, road closures, and public-safety directions can change rapidly. During an emergency, consult current information from authorized public agencies and follow all instructions issued by emergency officials. Call 911 for an immediate threat to life, active fire, serious injury, crime in progress, or another urgent emergency.
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