{"id":10436,"date":"2025-06-24T10:02:10","date_gmt":"2025-06-24T10:02:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/10436\/"},"modified":"2025-06-24T10:02:10","modified_gmt":"2025-06-24T10:02:10","slug":"ontario-heat-wave-prompts-concerns-about-students-educators-sweltering-in-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/10436\/","title":{"rendered":"Ontario heat wave prompts concerns about students, educators sweltering in schools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a style=\"display:block\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/resizer\/v2\/MR3PXLJZZRAFHE5D6CNMYPWS7I.JPG?auth=ac78e2851cb1515e157435297d5e0afbc7635d5dddeb577001682cb3b78253c8&amp;width=600&amp;height=400&amp;quality=80&amp;smart=true\" aria-haspopup=\"true\" data-photo-viewer-index=\"0\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"figcap-text\">Alexandra Mullins and her son Emmett sit in the playground of his Ottawa public school. Emmett was sent to the emergency room after experiencing heat exhaustion at school last week.Dave Chan\/The Globe and Mail<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Five-year-old Emmett Mullins, pale and warm to the touch when he returned from school on Thursday, started vomiting at home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Emmett\u2019s symptoms were not a result of a viral illness. He was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/life\/health-and-fitness\/article-what-are-the-signs-of-heat-illness\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/life\/health-and-fitness\/article-what-are-the-signs-of-heat-illness\/\">overheated<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Earlier that afternoon, he had fallen asleep in his hot classroom watching a movie. His mother, Alexandra Mullins, was advised by Telehealth Ontario to take him to an Ottawa emergency room. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">At the hospital, Emmett\u2019s temperature and heart rate were found to be elevated, and he was dehydrated. He was given a Popsicle with electrolytes and closely monitored before he was able to return home.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Ms. Mullins has joined a growing chorus of parents, along with teacher unions and health groups, who are speaking out about the dangers associated with sweltering schools \u2013 especially during a heat wave that has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/canada\/article-heat-warning-ontario-quebec\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/canada\/article-heat-warning-ontario-quebec\/\">gripped much of Ontario and southwestern Quebec<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Many schools, including the one Emmett attends in the nation\u2019s capital, do not have air conditioning.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\u201cWe are already at a point where kids are going to get hurt,\u201d Ms. Mullins said Monday. \u201cI would be very surprised if there weren\u2019t more kids in the city that ended up with heat exhaustion at the end of today.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>1\/8<\/p>\n<ul class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slides\" aria-live=\"polite\" aria-atomic=\"true\">\n<li class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slide tgam-inline-gallery__slide--active\" aria-hidden=\"false\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"c-image\" height=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/XYO3OEDHIZFT7L7NMVG2JPKONQ.JPG\"  width=\"0\" data-content-id=\"XYO3OEDHIZFT7L7NMVG2JPKONQ\" data-ct=\"image\" data-sophi-label=\"commuters try to stay out of the sun as toronto grapples with a heat wave monday.\" data-aspect-ratio-debug=\"known-height desired[1:I] selected[1:I] available[r1xI,r1x1,r3x2]\"\/><\/li>\n<li class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slide tgam-inline-gallery__slide--right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><img decoding=\"async\" alt=\"\" class=\"c-image\" height=\"0\" loading=\"lazy\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/CV6PERTLUJFHXNUEGBXF6HXHQI.JPG\"  width=\"0\" data-content-id=\"CV6PERTLUJFHXNUEGBXF6HXHQI\" data-ct=\"image\" data-sophi-label=\"miguel roque from portugal escapes the heat and humidity by reading in the shade of lafontaine park.\" data-aspect-ratio-debug=\"known-height desired[1:I] selected[1:I] available[r1xI,r1x1,r3x2]\"\/><\/li>\n<li class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slide tgam-inline-gallery__slide--right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/>\n<li class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slide tgam-inline-gallery__slide--right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/>\n<li class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slide tgam-inline-gallery__slide--right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/>\n<li class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slide tgam-inline-gallery__slide--right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/>\n<li class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slide tgam-inline-gallery__slide--right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/>\n<li class=\"tgam-inline-gallery__slide tgam-inline-gallery__slide--right\" aria-hidden=\"true\"\/><\/ul>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Record-breaking temperatures on Monday prompted both Ottawa and Toronto to take precautionary measures, including setting up cooling stations, with forecasters anticipating no relief in sight for days. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Christie MacDonald, the emergency services department head at the London Health Sciences Centre, said children and elderly patients are more vulnerable to health effects associated with sweltering temperatures. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Patients can experience a range of heat-related symptoms, such as feeling unwell and being unable to sweat, as well as signs of heat stroke such as confusion and chest pain. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text mv-16 l-inset text-pb-8\" data-sophi-feature=\"interstitial\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theglobeandmail.com\/life\/health-and-fitness\/article-what-are-the-signs-of-heat-illness\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">What are the signs of heat illness?<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\u201cThe heat impacts them dramatically,\u201d said Dr. MacDonald, who advises drinking lots of fluids, and also looking out for family and community members who may not have the ability to get to a cooler area. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Ms. Mullins said that, while the dangers associated with cold temperatures, such as frostbite, are commonly understood, many often think about heat as being solely uncomfortable. There is a need to address how to manage the heat because classrooms are getting warmer because of climate change, she said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Ontario Health Minister Sylvia Jones on Monday placed the onus of action on school boards. She told reporters that school boards across the province have plans in place, including modifying classroom locations. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\u201cI will leave it to the school boards to make sure they put the pieces in place to keep their students protected, because each school is different and unique for what they are looking at in terms of where the students are best protected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">In Ontario, there is no maximum threshold for temperature that prompts a shutdown of workplaces established by the Ministry of Labour, Immigration, Training and Skills Development. Educators are encouraged by their school board to protect themselves and their students by drinking lots of water, wearing light clothing and avoiding direct sunlight. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\u201cPeople are sweltering in the classrooms with the inability to do anything to actually address it, other than go outside and sit under a tree,\u201d said Karen Littlewood, president of the Ontario Secondary School Teachers\u2019 Federation.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Students and teachers, she added, end up trying to survive the day in the face of scorching heat.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Some parents have opted to keep their children home. Ms. Littlewood said there are staff who cannot tolerate the heat for medical reasons and must call in sick.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\u201cNobody can work under those conditions,\u201d she said. \u201cKids can\u2019t learn under those conditions. People go home sick, and then you have other illnesses that are exacerbated by the fact that you have this extreme heat.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">While there is no maximum temperature to force a shutdown, Ms. Littlewood said, educators can call the ministry and action is taken if a classroom falls to 17 C during a cold spell. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">Ms. Mullins also pointed to this discrepancy, saying that if a furnace wasn\u2019t working in her son\u2019s school in January, children would be sent home. <\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">\u201cIt wouldn\u2019t be given a second thought,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-article-body__text text-pr-5\">With a report from Laura Stone in Toronto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Alexandra Mullins and her son Emmett sit in the playground of his Ottawa&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2148,2138,671,104,2132,692,2147,2131,2143,2144,2140,2133,2130,79,407,746,2142,2137,2159,2134,2135,454,2139,1165,728,2149,108,2154,2155,50,2157,2152,2156,2150,2153,2136,85,2146,80,2145,2151,1458,158,1164,2141,1154,107,2158],"class_list":{"0":"post-10436","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news","8":"tag-alberta","9":"tag-arts-news","10":"tag-bc","11":"tag-breaking-news","12":"tag-breaking-news-video","13":"tag-british-columbia","14":"tag-canada","15":"tag-canada-news","16":"tag-canada-sports","17":"tag-canada-sports-news","18":"tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","19":"tag-canadian-breaking-news","20":"tag-canadian-news","21":"tag-economy","22":"tag-education","23":"tag-environment","24":"tag-federal-government","25":"tag-foreign-news","26":"tag-globe-and-mail","27":"tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","28":"tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","29":"tag-government","30":"tag-life-news","31":"tag-lifestyle","32":"tag-local-news","33":"tag-manitoba","34":"tag-national-news","35":"tag-new-brunswick","36":"tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","37":"tag-news","38":"tag-northwest-territories","39":"tag-nova-scotia","40":"tag-nunavut","41":"tag-ontario","42":"tag-pei","43":"tag-photos","44":"tag-political-news","45":"tag-political-opinion","46":"tag-politics","47":"tag-politics-news","48":"tag-quebec","49":"tag-sports-news","50":"tag-technology","51":"tag-travel","52":"tag-trudeau","53":"tag-us-news","54":"tag-world-news","55":"tag-yukon"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}