France recently recorded its hottest day in history. Across Europe, heat emergency systems have been overwhelmed, hospitals strained and lives lost as governments rush to protect their most vulnerable. Just weeks ago in Chicago, one of us treated a heatstroke patient in an emergency department — notably on a day not nearly as sweltering as the heat wave hitting our city this week.
What is happening in Europe and now in Chicago is not an anomaly — it is nature’s warning. Heat does not respect borders. Emergency departments across our city are already seeing an early wave of preventable heat-related visits, with the season having barely begun.
For those of us working in medicine, rising temperatures foretell what will fill our emergency rooms: cases of dehydration, heat exhaustion, kidney injury and heatstroke. Extreme heat is the deadliest weather-related hazard in the United States, killing more Americans most years than hurricanes, floods and tornadoes combined. Research shows that heat-related deaths have increased 117% over the past two decades.
Now is the time for Chicagoans to familiarize themselves with one of the city’s most important yet underused resources: cooling centers. In 2024, less than 3% of Chicagoans used one. That statistic should be alarming, given that only about 30% of single-family homes in Chicago have central air, compared with 76% nationwide — an average that conceals a starker reality.
South and West Side neighborhoods such as Englewood, Austin and North Lawndale are already hotter than Lincoln Park or Lakeview because they have less tree cover and more heat-absorbing pavement. It’s no coincidence that during recent heat advisories, ZIP codes 60620, 60623, 60628 and 60651 — Chatham, Little Village, Roseland and Humboldt Park — saw the most heat-related calls
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for service in the city.The most serious heat-related illness is heatstroke, in which the body loses its ability to cool itself. When body temperatures exceed 104 degrees, the brain and organs can suffer direct damage, leading to seizures, organ failure and death within hours. Its most common initial symptoms, confusion and tiredness, are too often overlooked as simple exhaustion. People who are unhoused, adults older than 65, people without air conditioning, those with chronic illnesses and children are among the most vulnerable.
Past reporting found that last year, many of our city’s cooling centers closed in the early evening — despite dangerous temperatures persisting well into the night, and nearly half of the city’s cooling locations were outdoor splash pads. Historically, the only overnight cooling options were police stations, which are not neutral spaces for many unhoused residents, immigrants and people of color.
The Garfield Center at 10 S. Kedzie in previous years has been touted as a 24-hour cooling center in Chicago — a single location for a city of nearly 3 million — though that hasn’t proved to be true, as its operating hours now show. This must change.
Many people wrongly assume they can sleep off a hot day, or they hesitate to run the air conditioner overnight due to electricity cost — concerns that are valid — which is exactly why cooling centers matter: They offer relief and safety to the financially vulnerable populations at greatest risk.
For many families, avoiding dangerous heat is not as simple as adjusting the thermostat. Housing conditions, financial constraints and neighborhood infrastructure all influence who can stay safe during Chicago’s hottest days. The 1995 Chicago heat wave killed over 700 people, primarily in low-income and vulnerable communities — a reminder of how poverty, inadequate housing and limited access to cooling can turn a weather event into a public health disaster.
To our city leaders: With the arrival of a dangerous heat wave, centers should remain open during appropriate hours, be clearly marked and accessible via public transit, equitably located and properly ventilated. The Chicago Park District and city webpages should update their outdated listings so residents have accurate information when it matters most.
This summer is not just about protecting ourselves — it’s about caring for each other. If you notice an elderly or vulnerable neighbor without air conditioning, check on them. If you can’t reach someone, request a wellness check via the CHI311 app or by calling 311.
Chicago respects the cold. We plan around wind chill advisories. Heat deserves the same respect.
This summer, locate your nearest cooling center, save the 311 number and check on a neighbor. As temperatures rise, so must our commitment to keeping our fellow Chicagoans safe.
Editor’s note: An earlier version misstated the operating hours of the Garfield Center as a cooling center. The Tribune regrets the error.
Chuka Onuh is a third-year medical student at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. Dr. Symphony Fletcher is an emergency medicine resident physician at the University of Chicago.
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