[.uk] Extreme Weather Events and Public Health Responses

European Public Health Response to High Temps and Flooding:
I purchased this title with a keen interest in the European public health response to the unprecedented warming and heat wave of 2003 that killed thousands. That event with its high excessive mortality, is a good precursor, in my view, of things to come as the planet warms. 16 chapters of this book detail the lessons learned from this tragedy and what can be done by health departments to respond to future temp extremes. The summary of a WHO working paper in Chapter 27, 'Public Health Respone to Extreme Weather Events' is particularly useful for State and Local PH departments needing basic policy guidance. And a bonus: now with the Midwest mopping up after yet another 100 year flood, American health practitioners should examine chapters 17-21 for a good overview of flooding impacts on public health and the European response. See chapter 20 for examples of priorities in emergency plans that should be targeting the most vulnerable members of the population (the elderly, those with health problesm, the poor, and those with children). The weakest section of the book is 'National Case-Studies' which included very short and fairly useless summaries of extreme weather event experiences in Romania, Bulgaria and Uzbekistan.