Extremely hot summers can be dangerous, especially for the elderly, people with pre-existing medical conditions, pregnant women, children, and people who work outdoors. As they become more common due to climate change, heat action plans are needed to better protect them.

But in Germany, unlike France for example, these plans are rare. Berlin is now setting the example here. There, such an action plan was developed for the first time with many health system stakeholders.

Rising heat is one of the greatest health risks caused by the climate crisis. This year, that is particularly evident in India and Pakistan, where temperatures of up to 50 degrees have been reached in a heat wave that has lasted for months.

According to the forecast, there will also be many more warm days with well over 30 degrees Celsius and “tropical nights” in Germany in the future, during which the temperature will not drop below 20 degrees. And high temperatures increase mortality. In Berlin and Brandenburg alone there were loud noises in the years 2018 to 2020 official statistics about 1,400 “heat deaths”.

However, heat-related health risks can be reduced quickly and significantly, as shown by France, Spain and Italy, which have heat action plans in place. The model here is above all France, where the Extreme Summer 2003 caused about 35,000 victims, which caused a great shock. There is now a four-step system valid throughout the territory “heat wave plan”.

For example, French municipalities have set up a register of single elderly people considered to be particularly vulnerable and who then receive help from social services when the heat persists. The town halls offer refrigerated rooms and supplies for those who cannot help themselves.

State of Berlin now with heat protection alliance

In Berlin, an “Action Alliance for Berlin Heat Protection” has now been founded, which wants to act equally consistently. It is the first alliance of this type in Germany. It includes the Department of Science and Health of the Senate, the Berlin Medical Association and the network “German Alliance for Climate Change and Health” (Clever) To. The alliance presented its plans on Monday in Berlin.

Together with Berlin experts from partner organizations, heat protection plans with checklists for five sectors of the healthcare system have been drawn up – including hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient care, services public health, firefighters and disaster control. This should ensure, for example, that clinics, homes and medical practices are informed at an early stage of heat waves by means of a functional alert chain and can take appropriate precautions.

Other measures include: adjusting meal and beverage plans, creating lists of patients at risk, developing tailor-made ventilation and shading concepts. Heat-related illnesses, heat protection measures and self-protection should also be part of the training.

science senator Ulrike Gote (The Greens) announced that the heat protection plans will now be quickly announced and implemented in the Berlin health system, “because the next heat wave with health hazards for the Berlin population will certainly come” .

“Imminent danger”

President of the medical association Pierre Bobbert and smart boss Martin Hermann pointed out that many people are already dying as a result of the climate crisis, including in Germany and especially in metropolitan areas like Berlin. This is not clear to most people in Germany.

It was “imminent danger”, said Hermann climate journalist, as shown by last weekend’s heat wave, which occurred unusually early this year. The fact that Berlin is now moving forward with the widely entrenched heat action plan is an important signal “for other cities and federal states as well”.

In Germany, there is no national heat action plan, as required by the German Medical Association. However, the traffic light government is working on a climate adaptation strategy which should also include “heat precaution”. The responsibility for drawing up heat action plans lies with the Länder, municipalities and healthcare facility operators.

The status here is very different. Some states, such as Baden-Württemberg or Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, do not want to draw up statewide plans, while others are preparing them. In Hesse, the heat action plan should be ready next spring.

However, since 2004 there has been a very differentiated heat warning system in Hesse, for which the Offenbach-based German weather service is responsible. Here, too, the trigger was the extreme summer of 2003. Klug expert Hermann said that the federal state was relatively well positioned in this area.