Americares and The Center for Climate, Health, and the Global Environment at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health (Harvard Chan C-CHANGE) collaborated to help free and charitable clinics and community health centers lessen patients’ exposure to dangerous heat and wildfire smoke. The Heat-Health and Wildfire Smoke Action Plans were developed through this partnership. Building on lessons from that work, Americares created the Flood Resilience Action Plan to support frontline clinics and health centers preparing for and responding to flooding and related extreme weather events.
Generous financial support for this project was provided by
The Climate Health Equity for Community Clinics Program gives clinic and health center staff the opportunity to create wildfire smoke, heat-health, and flood resilience action plans customized to meet the unique needs of their patient populations. The plans identify opportunities for staff to connect patients with support services in their neighborhoods.
Each plan outlines steps staff can take, in partnership with other organizations and local governments, such as conducting home wellness checks during heat season, giving away N95 masks during wildfires, or launching a vaccination campaign after a flood.
Not sure where to start? We’ve got you covered.
To make it easier for clinics and health centers to take the assessment and build their plans, we’ve developed Quick Start Guides:
We met with clinics and health centers to see how our materials helped them mitigate heat and smoke risks for their patients and communities. This new resource captures their real-life results, showing how these facilities launched their programs, what they learned along the way, and how they worked with community members and local organizations to protect their patients.
Use these lessons to move from planning to practice, whether you are implementing your Action Plan Assessment results or selecting from our Full Intervention Library.
Updated 3/2026
See how clinic and health center partners are putting their Heat-Health and Wildfire Smoke Action Plans to work in our latest collection of case studies.
How a Multi-Channel Strategy Closed the Gap Between Weather Alerts and Patient Action
How Pairing Heat Kits with Safety Education Reduced Heat-Related Risk
How Targeted Distribution of Resources Protected Vulnerable Patients During Wildfire Smoke Events
TRAINING VIDEO
Watch this training video to learn how to create an action plan and access implementation examples*.
*Examples used in the video are from the Heat-Health and Wildfire Smoke Action Plans, but the steps are the same for the Flood Resilience Action Plan.
Ready to create your clinic’s or health center’s heat-health action plan?
Ready to create your clinic’s or health center’s wildfire smoke action plan?
Ready to create your clinic’s or health center’s flood resilience action plan?
Once you complete the short survey, your responses will generate a tailored plan ready for download with the top five interventions for your patient population and unique needs. Each intervention in your plan includes real-world examples to show you how other clinics, health centers and communities have put these plans into action.The next step is to begin implementing the steps outlined in your customized plan.
Check out our Climate Resilience for Frontline Clinics Toolkit where you will find patient handouts in English and Spanish and resources for providers, along with other helpful resources.
EDUCATIONAL VIDEO
Understanding the science behind climate threats is essential for effective preparedness. Learn how to identify patients most vulnerable to extreme heat or wildfire smoke, anticipate potential impacts to facility operations and understand how action plans can benefit your clinic operations.
See a comprehensive list of interventions to protect patients from extreme heat, wildfire smoke and floods.
Once you have started implementing your plan, share your learnings so other clinics can learn from your team’s experience. Contact us at [email protected]