Circle the City, a nonprofit organization in Phoenix, has implemented a new program to provide health care to homeless individuals living on the streets. The program includes an IV rehydration initiative aimed at protecting homeless people from life-threatening heat illness, as temperatures in the area regularly soar to triple digits. Homeless individuals accounted for nearly half of the record 645 heat-related deaths in Maricopa County last year.
The program involves a street medicine team that administers intravenous saline solutions to dehydrated homeless individuals like Alfred Handley, who often face barriers to care in traditional clinics and hospitals.
As temperatures rise across the country, health providers are facing new challenges in protecting homeless patients from extreme weather conditions. The Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program, for example, now deals with heat-related illnesses in addition to winter-related conditions like frostbite and hypothermia.
In Phoenix, the Circle the City team searches for patients in homeless encampments and provides services such as wound care, medication refills, and IV rehydration. The organization also offers respite care for homeless individuals who are not well enough to return to the streets after a hospital stay.
Dr. Aneesh Narang, assistant medical director of emergency medicine at Banner Medical Center-Phoenix, emphasized the importance of addressing the increasing number of heat-related illnesses among homeless populations. The Circle the City program, founded by Sister Adele O’Sullivan, collaborates with local hospitals to ensure homeless patients receive appropriate after-care services.
With the summer temperatures on the rise, programs like Circle the City are essential in providing necessary medical interventions and support to vulnerable homeless populations struggling with the effects of extreme heat.
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