Don’t sweat it?

It was mid-June, not yet officially summer, and the power went out in my neighborhood. It was 114 degrees Fahrenheit outdoors. Not to worry, right? It’s not that the house heats up immediately. What’s noticeable is the stillness. The silence is startling as all lights, fans, appliances, and the ever present hum of the air conditioners stop. It all stops. Shuts down. It’s pleasant, that is, till the idea of no electricity sets in.

I hold my breath. Maybe if I sit still, the heat won’t get in, or at least, I won’t notice it. Robert Frost wrote of the fog creeping in on “little cat feet.” Here the heat slithers in like a rattlesnake. Quietly, circling everything in the room, in the house. No escaping it.

It sounds like a giant old car cranking up when the power comes back on. Everything starts up at once. A huge switch has been thrown feeding power to the lights, fridge, fans and the all-precious air conditioners. What did those pioneers do? How did they sleep at night? By soaking sheets in lukewarm water and wrapping themselves in them. Evaporative cooling was what they had. Wet mummies. The Native Americans just got out of here. They walked up into the mountains.

What do UPS drivers do? Last week there was the knock on the door and a box with Peet’s coffee in it was left on my porch. I saw the UPS truck drive away, doors open at 109 degrees. It seems management doesn’t see the need to air condition the trucks with the drivers going in and out constantly. Even with a powerful union, the Teamsters, the issue is never brought to the top of the bargaining list. Better cooling for the trucks and their drivers doesn’t make it into the contracts. Urban, or is it rural, legend has it that drivers are found passed out, slumped over the wheel of their trucks in 110 degree weather.

But of more urgency is a recent experience I had with my neighbor. He sought a cooling center and was turned away at El Centro Regional Medical Center. He lives in a situation where he does not have cooling. I copied the County Health Department “list of community cool centers” for him. It was published in this newspaper in mid-June. We distributed the list at Senior Nutrition in El Centro. But I started checking the list for a center my neighbor could walk to and started calling. They were all closed since it was July 4. So they are closed on the weekends as well? The list includes the El Centro Adult Center (listed a second time as the El Centro Community Center), the Salvation Army Hospitality House (with a Niland mobile number), the El Centro Public Library which is closed as well. Clinicas De Salud Del Pueblo is listed, but it is distant and there is no bus stop near it.

Curiously, the list only includes phone numbers and no addresses for the facilities. The information in skimpy and inaccurate. The County Health Department needs to get serious and do its homework. A usable list needs to be published with cooling center operating hours, addresses, and accurate phone numbers. More so, county, city and non-profit agency leaders need to meet and designate 24/7 cooling centers in each city and unincorporated area of Imperial Valley. Anything less is a failure to provide for the public safety.

I sometimes hear, ‘Ah, it’s OK. They’re locals. They know what to do in the heat.’ Sorry. That won’t cut it. Some people need help in extreme heat. It’s the duty of the public and nonprofit sectors to assist in times of need. It’s much easier to plan and protect than to repair injuries, or worse, lose members of the community.