The Heat Is On: Emergency Medicine in a Changing Climate

Wednesday, April 9, 2025

4:15pm – 4:35pm ET

Location: Sandringham/Windsor - 2nd Level

CE: 0.25 CME Credit

Speaker(s)

Samim Atmar, MD FAAEM (he/him/his)

Emergency Medicine Physician
Inova Hospital System
Washington, District of Columbia

Disclosure(s): No financial relationships to disclose

Disclosure(s):

Abigail Hankin-Wei, MD: No financial relationships to disclose

Samim Atmar, MD FAAEM: No financial relationships to disclose

The emergency department is often the front line when patients and communities are affected by climate change and climate emergencies. Patients may experience medical emergencies, even as the health system is strained.

In this session we will talk about how climate change and extreme weather events impact patient health and can impact the ability of local health systems to respond to these emergencies. We will address tips for managing patient care in the context of these emergencies, and how clinicians can act proactively and the the regional and national levels to advocate for patient well-being and health system preparedness.

Learning Objectives:

After this session, the learner will be able to identify ways in which climate change and climate emergencies impact individual patient health and patient care.
After this session, learners will be able to describe clinical conditions impacted by climate change and extreme weather events, and will be able to describe possible solutions to these problems.
The learner will be able to take impactful action within their health systems to prepare for climate emergencies and reduce healthcare’s impact on the health of the local community.