Heat Emergencies: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management
- Continuing Education

Equip clinicians with the knowledge to diagnose, treat, and prevent heat-related illnesses through a comprehensive, evidence-based virtual course covering thermal physiology, epidemiology, and management strategies.
- Live Online
This course is taught online in real time.
Continuing Education Credits
Earn up to:
15.50 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s) ™
15.50 ANCC contact hours
15.50 NCCPA contact hours
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Overview
The Heat Emergencies: Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management CME 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.
Developed and Offered By:
Continuing Education courses are developed by faculty from Harvard Medical School's teaching hospitals and accredited by Harvard Medical School. This course is offered by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.
Schedule
All agenda sessions are in Eastern Time.
Monday, June 16, 2025
Welcome, Overview, and Importance of Heat Clinical Education
Tess Wiskel; Caleb Dresser
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
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
Welcome and Recap
Caleb Dresser; Tess Wiskel
1:00-1:15 pm
Event Medicine and Heat Related Illness
John Jardine, MD
1:15-2:00 pm
Current Evidence on Heat Related Illness
Kurt Eifling
2:00-3:00 pm
Diagnosis of Heat Related Illness
Tess Wiskel
3:00-3:45 pm
Management of Heat Related Illness
Caleb Dresser
3:45-4:45 pm
Closing Remarks and Q&A
Tess Wiskel; Caleb Dresser
4:45-5:00 pm
Monday, June 23, 2025
Welcome and Recap
Caleb Dresser; Tess Wiskel
1:00-1:15 pm
Heat, Kidney Disease, and Outdoor Work
Nathan Raines
1:15-2:00 pm
Pharmaceutical Considerations in Hot Weather
Hayley Blackburn
2:00-2:45 pm
Small Group Discussions: What Special Populations Are You Worried About in Your Practice, and What can be Done to Meet Their Needs?
Caleb Dresser; Tess Wiskel
2:45-3:15 pm
Heat-Related Illness in Special Populations
Bruce Bekkar; Marissa Hauptman; Manijeh Berenji; Nisha Shah
3:15-4:00 pm
Heat and Behavioral Health
Elizabeth Pinsky
4:00-4:45 pm
Closing Remarks and Q&A
Caleb Dresser; Tess Wiskel
4:45-5:00 pm
Wednesday, June 25, 2025
Welcome and Recap
Caleb Dresser; Tess Wiskel
1:00-1:05 pm
Prevention and Management of Heat Related Illness in Low Resource Settings
Satchit Balsari
1:05-2:00 pm
Practical Resources for the Busy Clinician
Geoffrey Comp; Caleb Dresser; Tess Wiskel
2:00-2:45 pm
Health System Impacts and Preparedness for Extreme Heat
Jeremy Hess
2:45-3:45 pm
Preventive Solutions Through Public Health and Public Policy
Jane Gilbert
3:45-4:30 pm
Closing Remarks and Q&A
Caleb Dresser; Tess Wiskel
4:30-5:00 pm
Faculty
Harvard Medical School Continuing Education attracts the best and brightest faculty from all around the world. As a student in this course, you’ll have access to outstanding course directors and faculty.

Tess Wiskel, MD, MPH
Course Director
- Instructor, Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Burke Global Health Research Fellow, Harvard Global Health Institute

Caleb Dresser, MD, MPH
Course Director
- Director of Healthcare Solutions, Harvard Chan Center for Climate, Health and the Global Environment
- Assistant Director, Climate & Human Health Fellowship
- Assistant Professor, Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
- Assistant Professor, Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Satchit Balsari, MD, MPH
Director, Climate and Human Health Fellowship, BIDMC / C-CHANGE / FXB
Associate Professor, Emergency Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Associate Professor, Global Health and Population, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Co-director, CrisisReady.io
Bruce Bekkar, MD
Climate for Health Fellow, ecoAmerica
Editorial Board, Journal of Climate Change and Health
Founder, Public Health Advisory Council, San Diego
Co-Host, Green Docs podcast
Tara Benesch, MD
Attending Emergency Physician, Alameda Health System and Kaiser Permanente Medical Group
Affiliate Faculty, University of Colorado Climate and Health Program
Manijeh Berenji, MD, MPH, CMLE, QME, FACOEM, FACPM, FIAIME
Chief of Occupational Health, VA Long Beach Healthcare System
Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, Department of Environmental and Occupational Health, UC Irvine Joe C. Wen School of Population and Public Health
Health Sciences Associate Clinical Professor, Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, Department of Medicine, UC Irvine School of Medicine
Academic and Community Partnerships Lead, UC Center for Climate, Health, and Equity
Hayley Blackburn, PharmD
Associate Professor, University of Montana
Director of Education & Outreach, Skaggs Institute for Health Innovation, University of Montana Skaggs School of Pharmacy
Geoff Comp, DO, FACEP, FAWM
Associate Program Director, Creighton University School of Medicine/Valleywise Health Medical Center (Phoenix) Emergency Medicine Residency
Division Chief, Wilderness Medicine and EMS, Department of Emergency Medicine, Valleywise Health Medical Center
Assistant Professor, University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix
Assistant Professor, Health Sciences Associated Faculty Creighton University School of Medicine
Kurt Eifling, MD, FAWM
Attending Physician, Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences
Medical Director, Institute for Field Research
Jane Gilbert, MPA
Chief Heat Officer & Director of Urban and Community Forestry
Miami-Dade County Office of Resilience
Marissa Hauptman, MD, MPH, FAAP
Co-Director, Pediatric Environmental Health Center
Co-Director, Region 1 New England Pediatric Environmental Health Specialty Unit (PEHSU)
Chief Medical Advisor, Bureau of Climate and Environmental Health, Massachusetts Department of Public Health
Pediatrician, Children's Hospital Primary Care Center (CHPCC)
Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Jeremy Hess, MD, MPH
Professor, Emergency Medicine, Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences, and Global Health
Director, Center for Health and the Global Environment (CHanGE)
John Jardine, MD
Chief Medical Officer, Korey Stringer Institute, University of Conneticut
Emergency Medicine Attending Physician, Kent Hospital
RI Medical Director, Falmouth Road Race
Gayle Kouklis, MD
Emergency Medicine Physician, UCSF - Frenso
Climate Change and Health Science Policy Fellow, University of Colorado
Rob Meade, PhD, MPH
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Epidemiology, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Mary C. Meyer, MD, MPH
Emergency Medicine Physician, Kaiser Permanente Diablo and East Bay
Elizabeth Pinsky, MD
Associate Director for Advocacy, Mass General Center for Environment and Health, Massachusetts General Hospital
Associate Director, Pediatric Psychiatry Consultation Service, Massachusetts General Hospital
Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Pediatrician, Massachusetts General Hospital
Nathan Raines, MD
Internal Medicine Physician, BIDMC
Nephrology Physician, BIDMC
Instructor, Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Nisha Shah, DO
Hospice Physician, Family Hospice, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Alumna, Climate and Health Science Policy Fellowship, University of Colorado School of Medicine
Antonella Zanobetti, PhD
Principal Research Scientist, Department of Environmental Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
David Hao, MD
Paul Mathew, MD, DNBPAS, FAAN, FAHS
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Course Fees
Fee Disclaimer
You may register through our secure online environment and will receive an email confirmation upon receipt of your payment.
At the end of the registration process, a $10 non-refundable processing fee will be added to your registration.
Role | Standard Price |
---|---|
Physician (MD/DO) | $850.00 |
Nurse (RN/APRN) | $450.00 |
PA | $550.00 |
Psychologist | $550.00 |
Resident/Fellow | $450.00 |
Social Worker | $450.00 |
Allied Health Professional / Other | $500.00 |