People urged to take precautions as heat warning issued for Campbell River to Duncan

Environment and Climate Change Canada has issued a heat warning for the following region in Island Health:

• East Vancouver Island – Campbell River to Duncan

The province has not declared an emergency situation due to extreme heat for this region.

At higher temperatures, the risk of heat-related illnesses increases.

The British Columbia Centre for Disease Control offers a wide range of heat-related guidance on its website, including information about the different types of heat warnings, how to prepare for high temperatures, symptoms of heat-related illness, who is most at risk in hot weather, and ways to stay cool.

Preparing for and responding to warm weather

• If you have air conditioning at home, make sure it is working properly.
• If you don’t have air conditioning at home:
  • Find a place to cool off on hot days. Think about places in your community where you can spend time indoors, such as libraries, community centers, movie theaters, or shopping malls. Since temperatures can be warmer indoors than outdoors, consider outdoor spaces with lots of shade and running water.
  • Close windows, curtains and blinds during the heat of the day to block out the sun and prevent warmer outside air from coming in. Open doors and windows when it is cooler outside to move that cooler air inside.
  • Make sure you have a working fan, but don’t rely on fans as your primary means of cooling. Fans can be used to pull in cooler air during the late evening, overnight, and early morning.
  • Monitor the temperatures in your home with a thermostat or thermometer. Sustained indoor temperatures above 88 F (31 C) can be dangerous for people who are sensitive to heat.
  • If it gets very hot in your home, consider staying with a friend or family member who does have air conditioning.
• Identify people at high risk for heat-related illness. If possible, help them prepare for heat and plan to visit them.

Who is most at risk?
It is important to monitor yourself, family members, neighbors, and friends during hot weather. Consider developing a check-in system for people at high risk for heat-related illness.

Everyone is at risk for heat-related illness, but high temperatures can be especially dangerous for:

• Older adults
• People who live alone
• People with mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, depression or anxiety
• People with pre-existing health conditions such as diabetes, heart disease or respiratory disease
• People with substance abuse disorders
• People with reduced mobility and other disabilities
• People who are marginally housed
• People who work in warm environments
• People who are pregnant
• Infants and young children

Your health:

• Drink enough water and other fluids to stay hydrated, even if you don’t feel thirsty.
• Spray your body with water, wear a damp shirt, take a cold shower or bath, or sit with part of your body in the water to cool down.
• Take it easy, especially during the hottest hours of the day.
• Stay outside in the shade and wear a broad-spectrum sunscreen with SPF 30 or higher.
• Take immediate action to cool down if you become overheated. Signs of overheating include feeling unwell, headaches, and dizziness. Overheating can lead to heat exhaustion and heat stroke.
• Signs of heat exhaustion include heavy sweating, severe headache, muscle cramps, extreme thirst, and dark urine. If you experience these symptoms, you should move to a cooler environment, drink plenty of water, rest, use water to cool your body, and monitor your symptoms.
• Signs of heat stroke include unconsciousness, disorientation, confusion, severe nausea or vomiting, and very dark urine or no urine. Heat stroke is a medical emergency.

Call 112 in case of a medical emergency. However, it is important to use 112 wisely to avoid overloading the system.

When should you call 112:

• In case of heat stroke: unconsciousness, disorientation, confusion, severe nausea or vomiting or very dark urine or no urine.
• General: for chest pain, difficulty breathing, unconsciousness, severe burns, choking, persistent convulsions, drowning, a severe allergic reaction, head injury, signs of a stroke, signs of an overdose or severe trauma.

If you have a less urgent health problem:

• You can call HealthLinkBC at 811 and speak with a nurse or go to an urgent care center or clinic if you can do so safely. This way, our emergency medical dispatchers and paramedics are available to those who need their services most.
• There are also online resources at healthlinkbc.ca, including a “Check Your Symptoms” tool.

About the BC Heat Alert and Response System (BC HARS)

• The BC HARS has two warning levels: heat warning and extreme heat emergency.
• The criteria for the BC HARS are as follows:
  • Heat warning:
    • Two or more consecutive days on which daytime maximum temperatures are expected to reach or exceed regional temperature thresholds and nighttime minimum temperatures are expected to be above regional temperature thresholds.
    • After the first three events of the summer in a given forecast region, the BC HEAT Coordinating Committee (BC HEAT) may recommend extending the minimum number of days for the heat warning criteria in that region by one day
    • A moderate increase in risk to public health.
  • Extreme heat emergency:
    • The criteria for heat warnings have been met and maximum daytime temperatures are expected to rise significantly for three or more consecutive days.
    • A very high increase in the risk to public health.

The regional temperature threshold for southwestern British Columbia is 29°C during the day and 16°C at night.

For updates, please visit the Environment and Climate Change Canada and Island Health news pages and the social media accounts on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter) and Instagram.

Visit Island Health’s Heat Safety webpage for more information, tips and resources.