The mobile medical units are administering IV fluids and treating heat-related illnesses as extreme heat blankets the Southwest.
A Phoenix nonprofit, Circle the City, is providing mobile medical services to the city’s unhoused populations as temperatures in Arizona and across the Southwest soar to record highs.
“The organization’s goal is to break down barriers to medical care, and one way it does that is through its five mobile medical units. Each medical unit rotates to different locations in Phoenix and Glendale and helps treat general, urgent, and behavioral healthcare needs,” explains Alaina Kwan for KOLD.
The units are equipped with medications such as antibiotics and topical treatments and can perform minor procedures. “According to Chief Medical Officer Dr. Bill Ellert, the units have been treating a lot of heat-related illnesses, such as heat strokes and exhaustion. Throughout the heat wave, Dr. Ellert said the need for medical care and attention has grown in all its service areas, especially rehydration.”
The teams administer life-saving IV fluids to unhoused residents who may not be able to properly hydrate with water alone during extreme heat waves. Extreme heat poses severe public health risks, particularly to unhoused people who have little access to water and shelter.
FULL STORY: Mobile medical units care for homeless people during Arizona’s extreme temps
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