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Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Climate
- Yahoo
Make sure to hydrate: Heat kits assembled in Phoenix before possible triple-degree weather
With temperatures in Phoenix set to hit triple digits, volunteers and first responders are working to help Valley residents find relief from heat illness. In Maricopa County in 2024, there were 602 confirmed heat-related deaths, which was a decline from the previous year, yet a number that could still be significantly reduced, health experts and first responders said. Hundreds of Phoenix volunteers formed an assembly line in an outdoor area outside the headquarters of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, also known as AZ Blue, on April 9, placing items like sunglasses and electrolytes into "heat relief" kits that will be distributed through Valley of the Sun United Way in Maricopa, Mohave, Pima and Yuma counties. In two shifts, about 1,000 volunteers, employees from AZ Blue, its AZ Blue Foundation and the Phoenix Fire Department, among others, expected to assemble 15,000 heat relief kits in one day in a mass event that included multiple tables, tents and music. The AZ Blue Foundation began donating the kits a few years ago in response to a rising number of heat deaths in the community. As the volunteers worked, the temperature rose above 90 degrees. The weather is unusually hot for this time of year, caused by a strong area of high pressure across most of the western U.S., said Gabriel Lojero, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service office in Phoenix. Lojero said thermometers in Phoenix could reach 100 degrees on April 10, which would be the first triple-digit day of 2025. The normal high at this time of year is about 85 degrees, Lojero said. The earliest Phoenix has hit 100 degrees in a calendar year was on March 26 in 1988, according to Lojero. The summer of 2024 in Maricopa County marked a record-setting number of consecutive days over 100 degrees, yet it was also the first year-over-year decrease in heat deaths since 2014, according to the Maricopa County Health Department. The decline in deaths was a sign that some of the community's heat-relieving efforts were working, said Paul Penzone, the former Maricopa County sheriff who is now communications chief for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona. "It's a seasonal campaign that we plan on staying committed to," Penzone said of the AZ Blue Foundation's heat relief projects. The kits complement other heat-sparing activities that will be happening in Arizona this summer, including a network of heat relief stations throughout Maricopa County, urban tree planting by the AZ Blue Foundation on Earth Day, and an ice immersion technique that the Phoenix Fire Department uses to combat what can be severe and lingering effect of heat illness. Penzone said assembling the kits was about prevention but about awareness, too. Preventing heat illness much cheaper than treating someone for heatstroke, which in its most severe form can cause cognitive problems and damage organs, including the brain, kidneys and heart. And it's important to be aware that it's that time of year again when working and exercising outside is riskier, Penzone said. State health officials say symptoms of heat exhaustion include cool, moist, pale, flushed or red skin. The skin may be red right after physical activity and the skin may or may not feel hot. Other symptoms include heavy sweating, headache, dizziness, weakness and nausea or vomiting. "Even today, it's more than 90 degrees. I told the staff to make sure they hydrate," Penzone said. "The last thing we want is for someone to be impacted today." As volunteers put hats, sunscreen and other items into plastic bags, members of the Phoenix Fire Department demonstrated how they put people suffering from heat stroke into a special bag that they then pour ice over to reduce patients' core temperature — an intervention they used on 311 people in 2024 and expect to use on more this summer, said Adam Kozma, division chief of emergency medical services training for the Phoenix Fire Department. Cold water immersion: How Phoenix Fire Department will combat heat stroke this summer People who are unhoused and living on the streets are commonly affected by heat illness, but Kozma said Phoenix Fire Department personnel routinely respond to many others who suffer from heat problems, including people living in homes without air conditioning, hikers, elderly people whose bodies are often less likely to withstand high temperatures and people who are exercising or doing activities like yardwork outside. "We had more than 1,400 heat-related emergencies last year that we ran... We've seen some this year already," Kozma said. The human-sized cooling bags that the Phoenix Fire Department were using to help patients suffering from heat illness have been a game changer, Kozma and other fire officials said, as they offered demonstrations to volunteers assembling the kits. Lojero said the weather in the Valley should begin cooling down starting April 13, with highs that week in the upper 80s to early 90s. This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Heat kits prepared as scorching temperatures begin in metro Phoenix
Yahoo
05-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Over $17 million in medical debt wiped out for Arizonans
Thousands benefit from AZ Blue Foundation's work with Undue Medical Debt PHOENIX, Feb. 5, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Every month across Arizona, thousands of people face a tough choice: Pay their medical bills or use that money to buy groceries or other essentials needed to get by. Now, more than 12,000 people have less to worry about – thanks to the AZ Blue Foundation. In the last two years, the Foundation has donated to Undue Medical Debt, which helped erase over $17 million in medical debt in Arizona. The AZ Blue Foundation plans to make another donation later this year to expand its impact in 2025. This is part of AZ Blue's continued effort to make healthcare easier and support health equity for all Arizonans. "Provider bills can be a heavy burden," said Paul Penzone, Chief Community Relations Officer at AZ Blue. "Our gift helped ease some of that strain so people can focus on their health." How AZ Blue made an impact Each year, millions of Americans—more than 460,000 people across the state—find themselves needing unexpected surgeries or other critical care. When the bills for these treatments arrive, people often feel they have nowhere to turn. In fact, they are three times more likely to struggle with depression or anxiety, the non-profit's research shows. Here's how the program worked to help those who need it most: Who provided the support? The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona Foundation for Community & Health Advancement (AZ Blue Foundation) in partnership with Undue Medical Debt Debt Wiped Out: The program wiped out medical debt across the state: Yavapai County: all available debt for purchase in 2024 Maricopa County: $7.6 million Pima County: $2.2 million All 15 counties across Arizona benefited Who qualified? Families who earn 4X or below the poverty level. Those with medical debt equal to 5% or more of their annual income. On average, more than $1,600 in medical debt was forgiven per person in 2024. Learn more here about this effort. ABOUT BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF ARIZONA Blue Cross ® Blue Shield ® of Arizona (AZ Blue) is committed to helping Arizonans get healthier faster and stay healthier longer. With a mission to inspire health and make it easy, AZ Blue offers health insurance and related services to more than 2 million customers. AZ Blue, a non-profit company, is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. The company and its subsidiaries employ more than 3,200 people in its Phoenix, Flagstaff, and Tucson offices. To learn more, visit or connect with us on social media: Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn or Facebook. ABOUT THE BLUE CROSS BLUE SHIELD OF ARIZONA FOUNDATION FOR COMMUNITY & HEALTH ADVANCEMENT The Blue Cross® Blue Shield® of Arizona Foundation for Community & Health Advancement invests in the health of Arizona by tackling mental health, substance use disorder, chronic health conditions, and health equity. A 501(c)(3) private, non-operating foundation, the Foundation works in service of the public good through grant funding for programs and applied research that align with its focus areas. The Foundation is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association. For more information, visit: View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona
