Preparing the U.S. health community for climate change

In society's effort to address and prepare for climate change, the health community itself must ensure that it is prepared. Health personnel will require flexible and iterative action plans to address climate change at the individual, hospital, local health department, state, and national levels. This requires that health workers analyze the impact of climate change with a view to human health, and then formulate robust policy and demonstrate authentic leadership. In this review, we summarize the status of the health community's preparation for climate change and provide specific recommendations for action at each level. Although preparation status and recommendations vary, our observation is that it is not enough for public health and medical care agencies and departments to develop policies and advocate change. They have a direct responsibility to demonstrate substantive leadership.