Gwanak-gu Launches Comprehensive Response System for Summer Heatwave Preparedness

Focused Care for Heatwave-Vulnerable Groups... Disaster Helpers' Visits and Check-in Calls, Intensive Health Management... Operation of Alternative Shelters, Additional Installation of Gang Gam-chan Smart Shade, Safety Management of Heatwave-Vulnerable Facilities, etc.

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Gwanak-gu (Mayor Park Junhee) has established a summer heatwave countermeasure plan and entered an emergency response system to prepare for the increasingly severe heat and COVID-19.

The district has designated the period from May 20 to September 30 as the comprehensive heatwave countermeasure implementation period and operates a heatwave countermeasure headquarters to prevent heatwave damage, including protecting vulnerable groups, operating heatwave shelters, and managing the safety of heatwave-vulnerable facilities.

The heatwave countermeasure headquarters is composed of 15 departments across 4 teams, including the Situation Control Team, Welfare Support Team, and Facility Countermeasure Team, establishing interdepartmental roles and cooperation systems. It maintains a constant working system with 21 community service centers in the district’s neighborhoods to comprehensively manage heatwave situations upon heatwave warnings and respond swiftly in case of emergencies.

First, to protect vulnerable groups from heatwaves, focused care will be promoted. Disaster helpers, consisting of elderly caregivers, home care managers, visiting health professionals, community leaders, and voluntary disaster prevention groups, will provide close health management such as home nursing and visiting medical care through visits and welfare calls to elderly living alone, mobility-impaired individuals, and chronic patients.

Additionally, high-risk households for heatwaves will be selected in each neighborhood for frequent care, and the ‘Smart Plug Welfare Check Service,’ which uses Internet of Things (IoT) sensors to monitor safety, will also be promoted.

Furthermore, various measures will be implemented to protect vulnerable groups from heatwaves, including distributing cooling supplies, preparing protection measures for homeless people on the streets, managing heatwaves in daycare centers, and ensuring safety management for construction workers.

Heatwave shelters, where people vulnerable to heat can escape the heat, will be operated as alternative shelters depending on the COVID-19 situation. Parasols will be installed in 29 parks within the district to create and operate outdoor heatwave shelters, and safe lodging facilities contracted with local accommodations will be used as alternative shelters.

Based on 4th industrial technology (IoT), the ‘Gang Gamchan Smart Shade,’ which automatically opens and closes depending on the surrounding environment (temperature, wind strength, sunlight, etc.), was first pilot-installed and operated last year at 10 locations (3 at Gwanak-gu Office, 4 at Seoul National University Station, 2 at Sillim Station, and 1 at Sadang Station). This year, additional installations will be planned considering appropriate locations and floating populations.

Measures for heatwave-vulnerable facilities will also be prepared. Safety inspections will be conducted at construction sites, summer gas supply facilities, and petroleum sales businesses, and during heatwave warnings, major roads will be watered once a day to mitigate urban heat islands.

Moreover, to prevent safety accidents among residents, heatwave preparedness national action guidelines will be intensively promoted through brochures, the district website, and social media.

Mayor Park Junhee said, “With the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic and global warming causing hotter weather, it is necessary to prepare various summer heatwave countermeasures,” adding, “We will do our best to ensure a safe and comfortable summer by implementing customized measures to protect vulnerable groups such as elderly living alone and all residents’ health.”