Preliminary Steps to Assessing Cooling Centers As a Resource for Heat Adaptation in New York State

BACKGROUND:  During extreme heat days, local governments sometimes provide the public with information about cooling centers, such as community/senior centers, fairgrounds, and recreation parks, where they can seek relief from heat. The objective of our study is to assess these cooling centers as a resource for heat adaptation in New York State (NYS). Preliminary steps described below include locating cooling centers in NYS and determining county offices’ involvement in setting them up. 

METHODS: To develop a database of cooling centers in NYS, the NYS Department of Health (NYSDOH) contacted local health departments (LHDs), and offices of emergency management (OEM) via a survey to determine locations, and determine the offices’ involvement in setting them up. These offices were surveyed about provision of transportation, in-facility services, and how/when they provide heat-related information. The NYSDOH also used online resources such as county websites, news reports and weather alerts and contacted the New York City OEM and American Red Cross (ARC) to obtain a complete list of cooling centers. Location addresses were formatted, geocoded and mapped across NYS using SAS, and MapInfo. 

RESULTS:  The electronic survey was conducted among NYS LHDs and county OEM excluding NYC, since NYC-OEM was able to provide NYSDOH a list of NYC cooling centers. NYSDOH received responses from 43 of the remaining 57 counties (32 County LHDs and 22 County OEM).  Using online resources such as official NYS county websites and news channel websites (heat alert/ warnings), NYSDOH determined locations of cooling centers in 21 counties. A database of cooling centers was created for NYS using all information collected. A list of counties that did not respond or did not provide cooling center locations (they didn’t have any or depended on ARC) was sent to ARC state disaster liaison offices to complete the list. Collection of responses has been completed. Preliminary results will be presented.

CONCLUSIONS:  Spending at least two hours a day in an air-conditioned place during extreme heat events can prevent or reduce heat-related illnesses. Therefore cooling centers are a valuable resource for heat adaptation especially among those without access to air-conditioning. To properly assess cooling centers our next steps in this project are to: 1) Assess adequacy of cooling centers with regards to vulnerable areas and population; 2) Assess accessibility of cooling centers (via public transportation); and 3) Assess public awareness of cooling centers and warning systems and determine possible barriers to their use by the public.