Addressing Heat-Related Illness in North Carolina

<div class="page" title="Page 3"> <div class="layoutArea"> <div class="column"> In North Carolina and across the country, climate change has led to warmer average temperatures. Periods of extreme heat, an increasingly common weather event in North Carolina, can result in heat-related illness, including heat exhaustion, heat stroke and even death. Heat-related illness puts health at risk, especially among low- income populations, adds to healthcare expenditures, strains resources and decreases productivity. In this paper, we define the problem, evaluate different policy solutions, determine the most effective policy solution and propose a three-year budget. We found that the most impactful, cost-effective and equitable policy solution is to ban utility companies in North Carolina from disconnecting residents' power for nonpayment May-September, or in a period of extreme heat. The policy will be evaluated by tracking the number of households that retain power during summer months, calculating the change in heat-related ED visits over time, and holding focus groups. </div> </div> </div>