WEBINAR: Protecting Health in a Changing Climate

Dr. Caleb Dresser leads the Climate MD program at the Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which works with frontline health clinics to prepare a climate-ready health care workforce. He is also the assistant director of the climate and human health fellowship for physicians, an emergency medicine physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, and an instructor in emergency medicine at Harvard Medical School.

Climate-responsive hazards are escalating and can have significant impacts on both patients and health care facilities. Climate change is linked to increased risk from heatwaves, flooding, fires, hurricanes, and biome change, all of which have negative health impacts. Addressing these hazards requires action at many scales; this talk will focus on the role of frontline health care facilities serving patients at high risk from climate impacts. The Climate Resilient Clinics team has conducted needs assessments, developed toolkits for administrators and clinicians, is working with ClimateCentral to offer targeted heat alerts, and is conducting ongoing evaluation and refinement of this approach. Practical steps that can be taken to understand and address climate-related health hazards will be discussed.