Another Heat Wave is here! Check out these tips on how to stay safe.
Washington State Department of Health (DOH):
This safety focused page offers bullet points on reducing risk of heat exhaustion and heatstroke, tips for going outside, and what to do if the power goes out/air conditioning is not available.
PDF’s also available in Spanish, Chinese, Korean, Russian, Somali, Ukrainian, Vietnamese, and Large Type.
For those interested in the Department of Health Data Tables on heat related deaths (presently tracked from June 26th to August 8th) you can find them here.
A PDF is also available titled “Creating Safer Air Movement for Cooling with Consideration of COVID-19.”
Snohomish County Health District
The Health District’s page touches on cooling stations, tips for hot weather, and signs of heat illness as the primary materials on its headline tabs.
A list of cooling stations is provided, the list is “updated throughout the summer,” and folks can call 425-339-8634 for specific information.
Linked under the tips for hot weather tab is the Health District’s June 21st news release titled “Heat and Smoke: Staying Safe During Summer,” which outlines key safety information.
Flyer: Keeping Cool In Hot Weather
Offers tips to keep cool and outlines signs of heat-related illness.
Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department (TPCHD)
TPCHD typically links to the county site, but they also maintain information on their website via this Keep Cool heatwave information page.
This general resource page links to the full list of cooling centers on the county site, offers safety tips, informs readers of the signs of heat-related illness, and links to addition DOH resources.
Public Health Seattle-King County (PHSKC)
Hot weather: How to Stay Cool and Safe
PHSKC’s resources pages are found on the county website. Their hot weather general information page. This includes tips for staying cool, remaining hydrated, and recognizing the signs of heat-related illness.
In addition to outdoor tips, this page includes water safety tips, as many take to lakes, rivers, and the Sound to stay cool. Affordable life jacket resources are linked here.
A simplified guide of important heat safety tips and precautions.
Available in English, Chinese, Spanish, and Vietnamese
County Resources & Information
Snohomish County
Snohomish County Press Release: Know how to keep cool in the next round of heat
This release outlines that Snohomish county is a part of the excessive heat watch.
It also links to various Snohomish County Health District Resources including the cooling center list, Keeping Cool flyer, and more.
Pierce County
Here one can find a complete list of cooling centers, with each center having its own information page (example).
The page also has general guidance, an ASL video announcement, and written/audio notices in 11 additional languages.
King County (***UPDATED***)
See the resources listed above in the Public Health Seattle-King County section of this email, information is hosted on the county website.
In the emergency management section of the King County site, there are additional resources regarding extreme heat.
Focus is mainly on heat-related emergencies, how to prevent them, and what to do when someone is suffering from one. Additional resources (burn bans, Metro alerts, etc.) are linked at the bottom of the page.
Pet Disaster Preparedness + Hot Dogs are Not Cool poster (pdf)
Snoqualmie Valley Cooling Centers
Also includes the transportation services provided by Snoqualmie Valley Transportation.
*Note* I was unable to find a list of King County Cooling centers, but cities in King County often published their own. For example, here is a map created by the City of Seattle during the June heatwave outlining cooling stations in Seattle. If anyone comes across a centralized list of centers for the county, please send that my way so I can forward that to RARET partners
Transportation:
Pierce Transit is partnering with Pierce County Department of Emergency Management to offer free bus rides to cooling centers. This move aims to help “underserved populations who need access to transportation to get out of the heat.” For those curious about the locations of these cooling center, Pierce County lists their locations, along with additional heat wave information, here.
The city of Seattle has published a guide on best practices to keep yourself safe during the heatwave, this includes a list of locations where people can go to cool off (libraries, spray parks, etc.), and clients can use King County Metro’s Trip Planner to figure out which routes best connect them to the locations specified in that article. King County has also produced a similar webpage with helpful information. Residents of the Snoqualmie valley should consult the options outlined here, which also lists transportation options provided by Snoqualmie Valley Transportation (SVT) to those sites.
A list of Snohomish County cooling shelters can be found here courtesy of Snohomish Health District, a trip planner for Community Transit can be found here, while Everett Transit uses the same planner as the King County Metro.
FindARide.org is a wonderful resource for locating the an appropriate transportation provider for your needs across the tri-county region, particularly for those who require services more specialized than fixed-route transit buses.
Other County information
Below is a partial list of State counties that have cooling centers established:
NOTE: Not all of these centers have been vetted for accessibility.
Mason County - the following Cooling locations:
Shelton Civic Center on Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 8 PM and Monday regular business hours.
Mason County Public Works Building #1 on Monday and Tuesday from 8 AM to 4:30 PM (Mask and social distance required).
MCFD #4 Arcadia Station on Saturday and Sunday from 10 AM to 8 PM.
Several other large box stores, theaters, casinos, and shopping malls will be available. Please feel free to contact your local churches to see if they will be opened to assist with a cooling shelter.
From the City of Seattle, King County, and Kitsap County
From the City of Seattle:
"New Update: Magnuson Park Bldg. #406 Belvedere Terrace Room will be available for people with pets. Seattle Animal Shelter staff has teamed up with Seattle Parks and Recreation to supply a limited number of crates for residents needing a cooling center with pets. We encourage residents to bring their own crates to help provide enough space for folks with pets. Please note that the cooling center is not intended to be a drop-off cooling center for pets; pet owners need to stay with their pets at all times to care for them. The Belvedere Terrace Room can host up to 20 pets with owners.”
An ADA assessment was performed yesterday and it was confirmed that the cooling center and pet areas are accessible. (All of the cooling centers and areas being provided by the City are ADA accessible.)
Please reach out if you have any questions or unmet needs at this time.
From King County:
Please add King County cooling centers, which can be found at this blog post https://kcemergency.com/2021/08/11/cooling-centers-in-king-county-2/
From Kitsap County:
The link for Kitsap was outdated. This is the new link that I just received today: https://www.kitsapgov.com/Pages/inclementweather.aspx