Summer safety: Tips to protect yourself from summer heat

Download the WeatherCAN app to receive real-time updates for upcoming heat alerts for your community directly to your phone. You can also choose to get updates for the communities where your friends and family live to keep them up-to-date too. 

You can also get weather alerts online from ECCC, and from the Alertable app, which provides alerts for severe weather, tornados, wildfires, air quality and more across Canada.

Prepare your home

• Identify a cooler space in your home and prepare it so you can stay there at night, if possible.
• Find an air-conditioned spot close by where you can cool off on very hot days. Consider staying with friends or family, or find places in your community to spend time such as movie theatres, libraries, community centres, shopping malls or even shaded parks.
• Check that you have a working fan. Remember, however, that while fans can help you feel more comfortable, they do not work to lower body temperature for older people, or for temperatures over 35°C.
• If you have an air conditioner, make sure it works.
• Install awnings, shutters, blinds or curtains over your windows to keep the sun out during the day.
• Practise opening doors and windows to move cool air in at night, and shutting windows during the day to prevent hot outdoor air from coming inside.
• Get a digital room thermometer to keep with you so you know when your home is getting too hot. Generally, indoor temperatures over 31°C are too hot!

Take care of yourself

Make sure you take it easy during the hottest hours of the day, drink plenty of water, spray your body with water, and seek a cooler space if you are feeling too hot. You can also make sure you are familiar with the signs and symptoms of heat-related illness, how to prevent it, how to treat it, and when to seek medical care.

Check in on others

Think of people who might be more susceptible to heat. and develop a buddy system. Check in with your hot weather buddy often, especially in the evenings when indoor temperatures are highest, and in the morning to see how they managed throughout the night.

Through the Portable AC Offer of the Energy Conservation Assistance Program (ECAP), BC Hydro offers portable air conditioners for FREE.

If you live in an income-qualified household and/or have received a recommendation letter from your regional health authority's Home Care Program you may be eligible for a free portable air conditioner (AC).

Check if you are eligible, receive a recommendation from IH staff,  and apply online.

Learn more

For more information about who is more susceptible to heat-related illness and actions that you can take to protect yourself and others around you, check out:

• Extreme Heat
• Preparing for heat events
• Medications and Heat
• Extreme Heat Preparedness Guide
• Be prepared for hot weather - First Nations Health Authority
• Health checks during extreme heat events
• BC Heat Alert Response System (BC HARS)

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