Harvard Heat Emergencies Prevention, Diagnosis and Management 2025

The Heat Emergencies: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management Course is a virtual, lecture-based 4 half-day course to educate clinicians about how to diagnose, treat, and prevent heat-related illness. The course will describe the current evidence around all heat-related emergencies, including heat stroke, heat exhaustion, and heat syncope. The course will provide a background on the changing epidemiology of heat-related illness, varying definitions of heat, basics of thermal physiology, and individual and population-based approaches to prevention of heat-related illness.

Learning Objectives

Explain the epidemiology of heat related illness and associated disease processes.
Recognize the thermal physiology underlying clinical presentations of heat related illness.
Create a differential diagnosis and develop comprehensive, evidence-based management plans for all forms of heat related illness, including heat exhaustion, heat syncope, and heat stroke.
Describe groups at increased risk for heat related illness and develop anticipatory guidance and prevention plans.
 Discuss the pharmacological interactions with heat-related illness and develop plans for protecting patients.
Identify the resources needed and best steps to take for preparedness, diagnosis and treatment of heat related illness during event medicine and in low-resources settings.
Explain the impacts of heat across organ systems, including impacts on mental health and behavioral health and kidney disease.
Apply preventive solutions for heat related illness including from a community based, public health, and health systems approach.

Participant Types
General Physicians, Specialty Physicians, Physician Assistants, Nurse Practitioners, Nurses, Pharmacists, Primary Care Physicians, and Others
 
+ Topics:
All agenda sessions are in Eastern Time.
Day 1 – Monday, June 16, 2025
Theme: Welcome, Overview, and Importance of Heat Clinical EducationSpeakers: Tess Wiskel, Caleb Dresser

Time
Session Title
Speaker(s)

1:00 – 1:30 pm
Defining Heat
Caleb Dresser

1:30 – 2:15 pm
Heat Physiology
Robert Meade

2:15 – 3:00 pm
Epidemiological Impacts of Heat
Antonella Zanobetti

3:00 – 4:00 pm
Case Studies of Heat-Related Illness
Gayle Kouklis, Mary Meyer, Tara Benesch

4:00 – 4:45 pm
Closing Remarks and Q&A
Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

4:45 – 5:00 pm

Day 2 – Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Theme: Clinical Management of Heat-Related IllnessSpeakers: Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

Time
Session Title
Speaker(s)

1:00 – 1:15 pm
Welcome and Recap
Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

1:15 – 2:00 pm
Event Medicine and Heat-Related Illness
John Jardine, MD

2:00 – 3:00 pm
Current Evidence on Heat-Related Illness
Kurt Eifling

3:00 – 3:45 pm
Diagnosis of Heat-Related Illness
Tess Wiskel

3:45 – 4:45 pm
Management of Heat-Related Illness
Caleb Dresser

4:45 – 5:00 pm
Closing Remarks and Q&A
Tess Wiskel, Caleb Dresser

Day 3 – Monday, June 23, 2025
Theme: Heat Impacts on Special PopulationsSpeakers: Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

Time
Session Title
Speaker(s)

1:00 – 1:15 pm
Welcome and Recap
Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

1:15 – 2:00 pm
Heat, Kidney Disease, and Outdoor Work
Nathan Raines

2:00 – 2:45 pm
Pharmaceutical Considerations in Hot Weather
Hayley Blackburn

2:45 – 3:15 pm
Small Group Discussions: What Special Populations Are You Worried About in Your Practice, and What Can Be Done?
Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

3:15 – 4:00 pm
Heat-Related Illness in Special Populations
Bruce Bekkar, Marissa Hauptman, Manijeh Berenji, Nisha Shah

4:00 – 4:45 pm
Heat and Behavioral Health
Elizabeth Pinsky

4:45 – 5:00 pm
Closing Remarks and Q&A
Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

Day 4 – Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Theme: Prevention, Systems, and Policy SolutionsSpeakers: Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

Time
Session Title
Speaker(s)

1:00 – 1:05 pm
Welcome and Recap
Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

1:05 – 2:00 pm
Prevention and Management in Low-Resource Settings
Satchit Balsari

2:00 – 2:45 pm
Practical Resources for the Busy Clinician
Geoffrey Comp, Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel

2:45 – 3:45 pm
Health System Impacts & Preparedness for Extreme Heat
Jeremy Hess

3:45 – 4:30 pm
Preventive Solutions Through Public Health and Policy
Jane Gilbert

4:30 – 5:00 pm
Closing Remarks and Q&A
Caleb Dresser, Tess Wiskel