STATE
Heat-related illnesses on the rise in New Mexico amid record-high temperatures
770 New Mexicans have already visited ERs for heat-related illness this summer
Already this summer, 770 New Mexicans have visited statewide emergency rooms for heat-related illnesses. That鈥檚 more than all of last summer, according to the state Health Department, with more than a month remaining in the season.
The spike in heat-related emergencies comes amid a statewide record heat wave. In the first week of August, Albuquerque and Farmington have broken six high-temperature records, with temperatures hovering above 100 degrees each day this month, National Weather Service meteorologist Randall Hergert told Source NM on Friday.
The service has also issued multiple heat advisories throughout August, including for those cities as well as northern New Mexico between Los Alamos and Taos.
Hergert said much of the state has endured a 鈥渄ry patch鈥 without adequate afternoon monsoons to offset heat and decrease overnight low temperatures. But he said forecasts call for a respite this week, with more moisture and temperatures finally decreasing below triple digits.
State health officials, in a news release Thursday, urged the public, particularly elderly and young children, to stay hydrated and avoid the sun if possible.
鈥淎nyone can be affected, but children, adults over 65, outdoor workers and people with chronic conditions are more susceptible and should take extra care when it鈥檚 hot,鈥 Chelsea Langer, chief of the department鈥檚 Health Epidemiology Bureau, said in a statement.
For those without air conditioners, the state鈥檚 new Office of Housing has spent some of its legislative funding to help set up five cooling centers in southern New Mexico, where temperatures have regularly exceeded 100 degrees all summer.
The cooling centers opened with the help of $20,000 grants the office provided to Tatum, Hobbs and Eastern Regional Housing Authority of Roswell, department spokesperson Stacy Johnston said in an email. During a cold snap this January, the office also provided about to entities across the state.
One of the Roswell cooling centers is housed in a Presbyterian church on the outskirts of the city. Ernie Montoya, a volunteer with the church and Food Not Bombs Roswell, said on Thursday that the center has already served nearly 2,000 people, most of them unhoused, along with 300 of their pets. The center has also served as a hub to offer people showers, haircuts and other services.
鈥淭he impact is huge. We are changing people鈥檚 lives tremendously, even if it鈥檚 just a haircut,鈥 he said. 鈥淭hey feel like they鈥檙e being forgotten. We don鈥檛 have to be the hand that pushes them down. We can be the hand that lifts them up.鈥