LA launches heat awareness campaign. Here are ways to stay cool

You may be seeing more ads at bus stops and on LA Metro buses about how to identify and avoid heat-related illness.

It’s part of the city of LA’s Heat Relief 4 LA campaign and the county’s #HeatSafeLA effort, which aims to raise awareness about the health impacts of extreme heat.

The bus shelter signs were drawn by legendary artist Lalo Alcaraz and they illustrate the symptoms of potentially deadly heat illness, such as dizziness, nausea, and headaches, in four languages — English, Spanish, Chinese and Korean.

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The city’s campaign also includes flyers translated into eight languages that have been distributed to most city public libraries and are available for download online for anyone to share. Since early May, more than 30 grassroots organizations that work directly with communities most impacted by extreme heat have distributed the information translated into 15 languages to people they serve.

“Now that the heat season has arrived, we've been hosting workshops in various frontline communities in Wilmington, Pacoima, and South LA,” said Tiffany Rivera, Climate Health Project Coordinator with Physicians for Social Responsibility-LA, at a webinar about the campaign. The non-profit partners with community-based organizations that work with those communities.

In these workshops, Rivera said residents learn about city resources such as rebate and utility assistance programs, as well as how to identify heat related symptoms and how to respond to these symptoms.

“We're trying to close the gap between the resources that are available and people's knowledge of them,” Rivera said.

Effects of extreme heat on health 

The city and county first launched this effort in 2022 in an effort to raise awareness about the effects of extreme heat on health as human-caused climate change drives hotter, longer and more dangerous heat waves.

Health impacts include higher risk for the potentially deadly conditions of heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heart attacks, mental health issues, and more. A UCLA study found that between 2009 and 2018, there were 1,177 additional daily emergency room visits in the city of L.A on days above 90 degrees.

While everyone is vulnerable to the impacts of extreme heat, the campaign aims to target communities that are most vulnerable, such as people with lower incomes, the unhoused, seniors, and outdoor workers.

“Summers aren’t what they used to be,” said LA’s Chief Heat Officer Marta Segura at the webinar about the campaign. “The more we talk to people about how different it is now and how much more it will continue to change, people will pay more attention to how they prepare themselves.”

Segura said the campaigns have continued to grow in their reach since 2022. The county has also seen increasing engagement on social media. It's not clear yet how effective the campaigns are in terms of changing behaviors and preventing heat illness.

While increasing awareness is needed, Segura said it can only go so far in protecting people. She said as heat waves worsen, there needs to be deeper systemic change, such as more equitable access to safe housing and green space, but those efforts are moving slowly and not keeping pace with the need.

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