Faced with the heat wave that hit France this weekend, the government will launch “heat wave measures” Friday, June 5, 2015, and for at least 48 hours.
Reported by AFP, this information comes from a statement by Laurence Rossignol, Secretary of State for the Family, the Elderly and Autonomy, who first spoke of a heat wave plan before back-pedaling and talking about “heat wave measures”. “Tomorrow morning, Marisol Touraine (Minister of Health) and I will make a trip to an accommodation facility for dependent elderly people (Ehpad) to announce the heatwave measures which I believe should be implemented at least for the 48 hours which come, ”she said, on the sidelines of a government meeting in Matignon.
This Thursday afternoon, the France weather site recorded a maximum of 34 degrees in Bordeaux, 26 in Paris or 33 in the Rhône-Alpes region. The south is particularly affected by this scorching heat, where the temperature will easily exceed the bar of 25 ° C this weekend.
Set up following the great heatwave of 2003 which killed more than 15,000 people in France, the heatwave plan aims to inform and implement actions for vulnerable people in the event of hot weather.
In practice, the heat wave plan includes three levels of vigilance. The 1st level (green vigilance) is a “seasonal watch” activated from June 1 to August 31, and simply aims to monitor the weather conditions to spot the arrival of a possible heat wave.
Level 2 (yellow vigilance) is a “heat warning” triggered in the event of an alert issued by the General Directorate of Health after a prior assessment of the situation by Météo France and the Institute for Public Health Surveillance. It is activated department by department and is used above all to identify people at risk and inform them of the measures to be taken to deal with the heat.
Level 3 (orange vigilance) corresponds to the “heat wave alert”, triggered by the prefects of the departments in conjunction with the regional health agencies. Finally, level 4 (red vigilance) designates “maximum mobilization” during an exceptional, very intense and long-lasting heat wave. Exceptional resources are therefore prepared accordingly.
In the event of a heat wave, the Ministry of Health recommends that everyone cool off, drink enough, close their blinds and shutters during the day, limit physical activities, but above all not to remain isolated and to help their children. most fragile relatives.
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