Hot Topics: Climate Change, Health Policy, and Emergency Medicine

<p>Let's discuss a few hot topics: How do rising temperatures affect emergency medicine and the health of your patients? In this episode we sit down with Dr. Caitlin Rublee to discuss bugs, drugs, plants, and people. We connect the dots to show how climate change relates to social emergency medicine and what we can do as leaders to engage in health policy and take action to protect our patients!</p> <p><strong>Key Points</strong></p> <ol> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;"><strong>Climate change affects bugs, drugs, plants, and people!</strong> Rising temperatures mean increased vector-borne/zoonotic infections,  decreased efficacy of medications and patient access to medications, as well as increased potency of plant-borne illness and decreased biodiversity. Most important, it means poor health outcomes for our patients.</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Addressing health care equity is crucial when it comes to climate change. Vulnerable populations are disproportionately affected, and social determinants of health are front and center. </span> <ul> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Start a conversation about climate change in your program or medical school</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Incorporate health policy education into your curriculum, research, or QI projects</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Seek multi-disciplinary collaborators</span></li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="2"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">Get involved with organizations within your hospital or on the national stage</span></li> </ul> </li> <li style="font-weight: 400;" aria-level="1"><span style= "font-weight: 400;">COVID-19 has exposed our fragile health care system. There are many steps we can take to build climate-smart, climate-resilient health systems to prepare for