Skip to main content
x

Resources By Category

.

This Heat-Related Illness Clinician's Guide, available in English and Spanish, is a 12-page full-color guide to the many overlapping risks that outdoor workers like farmworkers may encounter, that increase their risk of heat-related illnesses. It covers the many overlapping factors that may increase a worker's risk for HRI, including the basic environmental, metabolic, and physical factors as well as social, occupational, behavioral conditions and more that amplify heat stress by worsening heat storage or impairing heat dissipation across those three factors. This updated version also features a new tear-out one-pager to share directly with outdoor workers on the symptoms of various heat-related illnesses and what to do if a coworker experiences one. There is a special section on chronic kidney disease of nontraditional origin, as well as an updated table with recommended questions for patients and an extensive list of new tools and resources. This guide, updated in 2026, was created by Migrant Clinicians Network and Farmworker Justice. 

Los trabajadores agrícolas corren un riesgo importante de sufrir estrés por calor. El estrés por calor se produce cuando el cuerpo no puede deshacerse del exceso de calor y su temperatura central aumenta. El estrés por calor puede dar lugar a enfermedades más graves relacionadas con el calor, como el agotamiento por calor, los calambres por calor, el golpe de calor e incluso la muerte, si no se trata. El trabajo agrícola, que requiere la realización de un trabajo físicamente exigente durante largas horas en un clima caluroso y a veces húmedo, pone a los trabajadores en alto riesgo.

Esta guía proporciona información a los proveedores de servicios de salud sobre la prevención y el tratamiento de las enfermedades relacionadas con el calor. Dado que los trabajadores pueden no estar familiarizados con todos los síntomas del estrés por calor, es importante que los proveedores de servicios de salud hablen con los trabajadores agrícolas y otras personas en riesgo sobre los síntomas de las enfermedades relacionadas con el calor y su prevención.

 

This joint FJ and MCN publication was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of awards totaling $1,949,598 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HHS.gov.

 

Agricultural workers are at significant risk for heat stress. Heat stress results when the body cannot get rid of excess heat and its core temperature rises.  Heat stress may lead to more severe heat illness including heat exhaustion, heat cramps, heat stroke, and even death if left untreated.  Agricultural work, which requires performing physically demanding work for long hours in hot and sometimes humid weather, places workers at high risk.

This guide provides information to clinicians on the prevention and treatment of heat-related illness. Since workers may not be familiar with all of the symptoms of heat stress, it is important that clinicians discuss heat illness symptoms and prevention with agricultural workers and others who are at risk.

 

This joint FJ and MCN publication was supported by the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of awards totaling $1,949,598 with 0% financed with non-governmental sources. The contents are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement by, HRSA, HHS, or the U.S. Government. For more information, please visit HHS.gov.

Download Resource