From the 18th to the 21st of July 2019, Hanoi was affected by a heatwave with a heat index peaking at 47.5 ºC. Three days before, alerted by early warnings issued by the Vietnam Institute of Meteorology, Hydrology and Climate Change (IMHEN), the VNRC and GRC took anticipatory actions by preparing the opening of Red Cross cooling centres.
Opening community cooling centres is one of the Early Actions selected for the “FbF Ready” project. Another action consists in the retrofitting of habitations in slums (shading roof) and the procurement of fans with cooling systems. In addition, as income has been identified as a key barrier to access to cooling device ownership and use, cash distribution to subsidize utility bills will also be also tested for the poorest households. The community cooling centres will be complemented by Red Cross cooling buses which will travel the main streets of Hanoi and direct the vulnerable population to the pre-identified centres.
The aim of the Early Actions is to reduce the occurrence of heat related symptomes in the targeted population by providing cool shading places during day-time to people earning their living in the streets and by improving sleeping conditions of people living in slums and poor habitations. Indeed, having regular rests in cooler environment is a very efficient way to avoid the body temperature to increase, and therefore to prevent from potentially dangerous effects of heat exposures such as a heatstroke.