Pima County’s second COOLtainer opened at Augie Acuña Los Niños Park earlier this week, as a response to the high number of heat-related calls in the area.
The COOLtainer is a transportable, renovated shipping container equipped with solar panels and air conditioners. It provides heat relief for up to 20 individuals at a time.
Pima County Health Department’s heat response and relief program manager Nate Young said the placement of the COOLtainer was intentional, based on data from the past three summer seasons.
“We found that nearby census tracks had pretty high rates of both illness and death and there weren't any nearby cooling centers for about 4 miles, he said. “We wanted to fill that gap in that area and make sure that resource was available to the local community.”
The COOLtainer is open from 3 to 7 p.m. on Monday through Friday and 1 to 7 p.m. on Saturday. Staff from the Health Department is also present during these times.
“You'll see some of our community health workers who are available to provide resource navigation and give out heat release supplies such as water, lip balm, cooling towels, electrolytes and some other goodies,” Young said.
While the container is portable, Young said the department plans to leave it at the park until at least the end of summer.
With a new place to find shields from the heat, Pima County now has 48 cooling centers. Young advises people to take advantage of the county’s heat relief resources, including the cooling center map.
