Though temperatures in coastal Alabama eased this week, this summer has brought record heat to the region. For much of August, heat dome over much of the United States pushed temperatures in Mobile into the triple digits. And an early forecast from the Weather Channel shows highs in Mobile returning to the mid- to upper-90s this week, after a break last week.

Dr. Kevin Michaels has served as the Mobile County Public Health Officer since 2022. Here, he gets into the science of who’s the most vulnerable to the heat and how we can protect ourselves it. He also issues a warning about the continued threat of the coronavirus pandemic in the community, as COVID numbers are rising each week.

Questions and answers have been condensed and edited for clarity.

Who is most vulnerable to the effects of extreme heat?

An older person may not have the acclimatization, and they may be on other medications. And as the body goes through the changes, the aging process, they may lose their heat tolerance, they may be more sensitive to the to those temperatures. And it also goes hand-in-hand, it’s not necessarily the age, it’s probably the other conditions that they have, heart disease, and the medication they’re taking or their body’s ability to respond. Because when a person gets hot, and they have to move blood around, they may not have the cardiovascular reserve for the heart to beat quicker.