Heat Research | Eastern North Carolina Now

    "The best way to stop heat-related illnesses is prevention," Edwards said. But Mizelle cautioned that finding a balance between government mandated work-rest rules and preventative measures, some as simple as body worn water bladders, is probably the most reasonable way forward.

    "We have to meet in the middle. What can we do to keep outdoor workers safe, but also keep them productive in their jobs?" Mizelle said.

    Mizelle's work to help prevent heat injuries in workers extends outside of North Carolina. She and colleagues from Villanova and Emory universities have trained nursing students in Georgia in first aid for heat-related illnesses.

    Climate change is a reality that is affecting North Carolinians today, not at some abstract point in the future, and Mizelle hopes that she and her nursing colleagues can bring the public's attention to the realities of new climate normal.


    "We definitely have to make climate change applicable to our patients and communities," she said. "People in North Carolina aren't as interested in the polar bears in the Arctic as being able to swim in a river in their backyard without getting a toxic algae bloom contact or if they can't go outside during the day because of the extreme heat.

    "We learned in the pandemic that farmers are critical to our society, so we've got to keep them healthy. That might sound a little selfish but they are such a critical component to our everyday life."