Who’s At Risk During This Week’s Heat Wave?

Health and emergency management officials say this week’s hot weather will be dangerous for people who have to be outside or lack air conditioning.

Tod Pritchard of Wisconsin Emergency Management says summer heat waves have been the biggest weather-related killers in the state, and that young children and the elderly are most at risk.

“In the 10 heat-related deaths that we’ve had so far this summer, many of them have fit into a very similar pattern,” says Pritchard. “They’ve been senior citizens who have not had air conditioning, and have been socially isolated or don’t have as robust a support system as other folks do.”

Pritchard advises people who don’t have air conditioning to seek out air-conditioned facilities like a library, mall, or senior center. Heat indices this week could reach the upper 90s.

Check out a list of Wisconsin cooling centers here.