Guide for the evaluation of a warning system for people vulnerable to heat and smog

Organization: Institut national de santé publique du Québec

Year: 2014

Guide for the evaluation of a warning system for people vulnerable to heat and smog

(Guide d’évaluation d’un système d’alertes pour les personnes vulnérables à la chaleur et au smog)

In this report, a guide for evaluating warning systems for people vulnerable to heat and smog is presented. It is intended for managers and evaluators of these systems. It provides them with an analytical framework and methods for evaluating their relevance, implementation and impacts.

The guide proposes that relevance analysis must address the need for warning systems for people vulnerable to heat and smog. More particularly, the emphasis should be on knowing whether the population in general, or some social groups in particular, require a warning system to be well informed about heat waves and smog episodes and about the behaviours to adopt to protect themselves from these vagaries.

It is also proposed in this guide that the implementation analysis focus on the capacity of the warning system to detect heat waves and/or smog episodes and to warn people who are vulnerable to them at the appropriate time. The quality of the warning messages, mainly the accuracy, utility and clarity of the embodied information, are also part of the implementation analysis.