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By Gary Giacomo
In an effort to track the effects of heat on public health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Climate Change and Health Equity (OCCHE), in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), launched a first-of-its-kind online information portal called the Heat-Related Illness EMS Activation Surveillance Dashboard (“EMS HeatTracker”). The HeatTracker maps EMS responses to heat-related illness across the country.
In California Butte, Humboldt, Imperial, Kern, Mendocino, Riverside, San Joaquin, and Shasta Counties all registered a higher-than-average number of heat-related EMS calls.
The EMS HeatTracker highlights EMS activations resulting from 911 calls for heat-related illness and injury. The dashboard includes clinical care and patient characteristics captured within the National EMS Information System (NEMSIS) maintained by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA).
In addition to showing state and county-level heat-related EMS activations, the dashboard breaks down patient characteristics by age, race, gender, and urbanicity (e.g., urban, suburban, rural, and frontier). These data underscore which populations experience heat-related health risks most severely.
“The effects of climate change and extreme heat on our daily lives are undeniable,” said Acting Administrator of NHTSA, Ann Carlson. “This dashboard is a first step to gather critical data on heat-related illness and save lives. So, I’m thrilled that in collaboration with state EMS officials and clinicians, NHTSA can share millions of records and partner with HHS to identify the populations most at risk for heat-related illness.”
The EMS HeatTracker highlights jurisdictions (including all 50 U.S. States, Puerto Rico, and D.C.) and counties with the highest rates of heat-related EMS activations. The EMS HeatTracker also provides national-level information on the number of heat-related EMS activations and the number of heat-related deaths among patients who were alive when EMS officials arrived on the scene. It does not include information for patient fatalities that occurred prior to EMS arrival on scene or fatalities with no EMS response, making it an underestimate of the number of heat-related deaths in the U.S.
The EMS HeatTracker allows for county- and jurisdiction-level comparisons to national averages in three categories in the prior rolling 30 and 14-day periods:
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- population rate of heat-related EMS activations within a community;
- average EMS time in transit to reach a patient; and
- the percentage of patients who are transported to a medical facility for further treatment.
The information displayed on the EMS HeatTracker is updated every Monday morning with a two-week lag behind real time. The current dashboard represents the first iteration of a tool that will continue to evolve over the coming year as more data becomes available.
The EMS HeatTracker will be used to help state, regional, and local government officials determine where to prioritize heat mitigation strategies, like street trees, parks, and cool roofs. It will also be used to help mayors and public health officials prioritize interventions like cooling centers and outreach to at-risk populations during periods of extreme heat.
This tool is being deployed as climate change makes heat waves more extreme and more frequent around the country. It is the latest step by the Biden-Harris Administration to provide communities with the support and resources they need to stay safe from the worsening effects of extreme heat.
To view the EMS HeatTracker, click HERE