title: Surveying Local Health Departments and County Emergency Management Offices on Cooling Centers as a Heat Adaptation Resource in New York State.
abstract: Local agencies in New York State (NYS) set up cooling centers to provide relief from summer-time heat especially for people with limited access to air-conditioning. We aimed to determine cooling center locations in NYS, and explore county agencies' involvement in organizing and promoting utilization of cooling centers. We conducted a survey among county health and emergency preparedness offices in NYS (excluding NYC) and explored official county websites. We identified 377 cooling centers, mostly in metropolitan areas of NYS. Although 47 % of counties listed locations online, only 29 % reported locations via survey. Radio (90 %) and internet (84 %) were popular for information dissemination. Air-conditioning was available at all indoor cooling center facilities. Cooling centers in 13 % of the counties were accessible by either public transportation or shuttles arranged by the facility. About 38 % counties do not consider cooling centers important in their region or promote informal cooling centers. More than a third of New York counties had neither cooling centers nor plans to establish a cooling center as extreme heat was not perceived as a threat in their region.
authors: Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Corning Tower Room 1203, Albany, NY, 12237, USA. seema.nayak@health.ny.gov.
authors: Seema G
authors: SG
authors: Nayak
authors: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, SUNY, 1 University Place, Rensselaer, NY, 12144, USA.
authors: Shao
authors: S
authors: Lin
authors: Department of Geography, Kent State University, McGilvrey Hall 443, Kent, OH, 44242, USA.
authors: Scott C
authors: SC
authors: Sheridan
authors: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University at Albany, SUNY, 1 University Place, Rensselaer, NY, 12144, USA.
authors: Yi
authors: Y
authors: Lu
authors: Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Corning Tower Room 1203, Albany, NY, 12237, USA.
authors: Nathan
authors: N
authors: Graber
authors: Office of Health Emergency Preparedness, New York State Department of Health, 800 North Pearl St (Suite 322), Menands, NY, 12204, USA.
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Primeau
authors: Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Corning Tower Room 1203, Albany, NY, 12237, USA.
authors: Claudine Jones
authors: CJ
authors: Rafferty
authors: Center for Environmental Health, New York State Department of Health, Empire State Plaza, Corning Tower Room 1203, Albany, NY, 12237, USA.
authors: Syni-An
authors: SA
authors: Hwang
mesh_terms: D003151:Community Health Centers / Q000458:organization & administration*; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004190:Disasters; D055874:Extreme Heat / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D033181:Information Dissemination; D009111:Local Government; D009518:New York; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires
keywords: Cooling centers; Cooling sites; County agencies; Extreme heat; Heat adaptation resources