Protecting Students from Heat Risks with HeatSense Founder Melissa Fortenberry

How safe are your student athletes and band members in the heat?

In this episode of the Boosted Volunteer podcast, host Robin Eissler sits down with Melissa Fortenberry, founder and CEO of HeatSense, to talk about the critical issue of heat safety in youth athletics and marching bands. From her personal experience as a parent to developing cutting-edge wearable technology, Melissa shares how HeatSense empowers coaches, parents, and administrators with real-time data to prevent heat-related illness before it becomes dangerous.

HeatSense combines a lightweight wearable with a powerful app and a coach dashboard to monitor athletes' vitals in real time, helping prevent heat-related illness before it becomes an emergency.

Key Takeaways

• 2:00 – The inspiration behind HeatSense: Melissa’s personal experience in the Texas heat.
  
  
• 2:37 – Three problems with current heat regulations: waiting for symptoms is too late, WBGT’s limits, and challenges in measuring core body temperature.
  
  
• 4:37 – How HeatSense works: non-invasive wearables, apps, and dashboards that provide coachable insights in real time.
  
  
• 6:00 – Alerts and customization: notifications for coaches, parents, and leaders to respond before students overheat.
  
  
• 7:02 – Marching bands vs. athletes: the added challenges of uniforms, asphalt, and turf.
  
  
• 7:55 – Empowering parents without “helicoptering”: how data builds advocacy and peace of mind.
  
  
• 9:10 – Team vs. individual solutions: how coaches and schools can monitor dozens of students at once.
  
  
• 11:26 – Advocating for better heat safety at schools: asking about emergency action plans.
  
  
• 13:00 – The future of HeatSense: personalization, prediction, and performance improvements through data.
  
  
• 15:15 – Lessons from high school sports: how soccer shaped Melissa’s resilience and leadership.

Resources: 

Website: https://heatsense.com/

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