Ways to improve the protection of vulnerable people in municipalities

• Assessing the functioning of municipal registries

• Strengthen support for individuals

• Better coordinate stakeholders

• Better train frontline professionals and community liaisons (caregivers and home health aides, pharmacists, doctors, mail carriers, shopkeepers, etc.)

Ways to improve prevention in schools

• Strengthen training for after-school staff and teachers on the proper steps to take to protect children from the heat

• Adapt activities (recess, meals, schedules, etc.)

• Improve the structure and layout of buildings (greenery, shaded courtyards, classroom insulation, blinds, heat-reflective materials, permeable/de-mineralized surfaces, water play areas, etc.)

• Integrate heatwave prevention into a broader environmental education approach

Ways to improve protection for the homeless

• Promote protection against heat, with the help of organizations or the Samu Social: access to housing/temporary shelters in the summer, access to water and hygiene

• Raise awareness and alert social service providers and homeless individuals to the risk of heat waves

Ways to improve cities’ adaptation to heat

• Develop measures to reduce urban heat, particularly through the “nature in the city” concept (greening, heat-reflective surfaces, water fountains, bodies of water, blue infrastructure)

• Promote access to cool spaces and routes in the city and maintain temporary measures during heat waves (misting, keeping parks open at night, fountains, etc.)

All these measures go beyond the scope of heat waves and offer health benefits: increased physical activity, reduced noise, improved mental health, and the fight against social health inequalities through cool spaces accessible to all.