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The Association Between Temperature and 911 Calls for Heat-Related Illness: Potential for Syndromic Surveillance

Description

One of the emerging priorities for the use of syndromic surveillance is for the monitoring of environmental health conditions. Heat-related illness (HRI) is of growing public health importance, particularly with climate change and anticipated increased frequency of heat waves. High ambient temperatures are responsible for significant morbidity and mortality, as was demonstrated during the 2003 heat waves in Europe that resulted in an estimated 45,000 excess deaths. A syndromic surveillance system that is able to detect early indications of excess HRI may start the public health response earlier, and thus reduce associated morbidity and mortality. Our research group is exploring the potential use of 911 medical dispatch data for the surveillance of HRI in Toronto. An important step in this assessment is exploring the association between temperature and 911 dispatch calls for HRI.

 

Objective

This paper describes the association between 911 medical dispatch calls for heat-related illness and maximum temperature in Toronto, Ontario during the summer of 2005.

Submitted by elamb on