Dr. Michelle Morse, MD, MPH is the acting health commissioner and chief medical officer of the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She spoke with the Amsterdam News about staying safe during NYC summer heat waves and how to identify dangerous signs of heat exhaustion. This conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.
AmNews: Could you talk about some of the dangers of excessive heat during the summer months and mid-June, 2025 heat wave?
This is a record-breaking heat wave for us. It’s the first big one of the summer season. We see upwards of 500 heat related deaths every year in New York City, unfortunately, and what we worry about of course is that as climate change continues to advance, that number could go up. That’s what we want to prevent. We want it to be zero and unfortunately that is not the case yet so the risks of this kind of heat to people’s health are very serious and are really worth New Yorkers paying attention to [the risks].
AmNews: What are some of the concerns that we are already seeing this summer regarding the heat?
Some of the things that we’re already seeing [include], a very large increase in ER visits related to heat illness over the past couple of days. So that’s something that New Yorkers should know. There are a number of things [people] can do to prevent the impacts of heat on their health and I would say that these prevention actions that New Yorkers can take are even more important for the people that are at highest risk of heat related illness and injury.
The people that are at highest risk are our elders over the age of 65. It’s also people that have chronic conditions like diabetes or lung disease or kidney disease, pregnant people are at higher risk people that are on medications that change their body temperature at higher risk, so those folks should be paying even more attention to related complications but what everyone should do in times like this, is try to spend more time inside in air conditioned places, minimize any time that you’re spending outside particularly outside walking or exercising. This is a time when we recommend that everyone drink much more water than they would otherwise and stay hydrated. We also encourage people if they have to be outside to try to take a break from the sun, be in a cool place for a break for 15 minutes or so as often as they can and all of these kinds of things are really helpful in preventing heat-related injury.
The other thing you can do in particular if you’re worried about your electricity bill is put your air conditioner to 78 degrees. It’s going to cool you adequately but you know not to kill your electricity bill and then we encourage people to take cool showers as well, those are all things that can be really helpful in heat waves like this.
AmNews: What are 3-4 common symptoms of someone suffering from heat exhaustion?
There are a number of red flags that you should be very concerned about. You should go to an emergency room if you experience this or you have a friend or family member that’s experiencing it. We really encourage people to check in with their friends, family, neighbors and make sure that they’re safe during heat waves like this and that they have the resources and support they need to stay cool. That’s another good, friendly thing that New Yorkers should do.
The signs and symptoms include: if you’re feeling dizzy or lightheaded, if you’re feeling nauseous or vomiting. A very late stage finding is confusion and being completely disoriented, if your heart is racing, your heart rate is very high, those are all signs and symptoms of heat stroke, the kind of severe version of heat related injury and we highly recommend that you go to an emergency room if you’ve been outside in the heat and you start to experience those symptoms.