BC sweltered in unprecedented temperatures last summer and it left over six hundred people dead, with most of those deaths occurring indoors, according to the province’s chief coroner.
The report Extreme Heat and Human Mortality: A Review of Heat-Related Deaths in BC in Summer 2021 was released Tuesday by the BC Coroners Service and highlights recommendations to reduce deaths in future heat events.
Starting June 24th, 2021, a “heat dome” saw temperatures soar past 40°C in many parts of the province, leading the service to investigate and find 619 heat-related deaths between June 25th and July 1st—up from the 595 previously announced.
Within Island Health specifically, the region accounted for 55 (9%) of deaths recorded, behind Fraser North, Fraser East, and Vancouver, which together saw the most and totalled 457 deaths.
Across BC, 98% of people perished indoors, 67% were over 70, and 56% lived alone, with the majority residing in homes without air conditioning in “socially or materially deprived neighbourhoods,” according to the report.
As well, deaths were higher among people on specific chronic disease registries, including schizophrenia, substance-use disorder, and epilepsy.
At the peak of the heat, 911 calls doubled
The BC Coroners Service report found a lag between the heat alerts issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada and public agencies, which may have delayed emergency response times.
Paramedics attended 54% of deaths at an average of 10 minutes and 25 seconds; however, in 50 instances, they took 30 minutes or longer to arrive on scene. In six, callers were told that there was no ambulance available, the report says.
These findings prompted several recommendations from subject-matter experts, including implementing a coordinated provincial heat alert and response system (HARS) and supporting populations most at risk of dying during extreme heat emergencies.
A third recommendation, implementing extreme heat prevention and long-term risk mitigation strategies, was also provided by BC’s death review panel to chief coroner Lisa Lapointe.
“It was important that we focus both on the immediate threat and on longer-term prevention strategies, and the final report includes measures that can be actioned now and changes to be made in the years to come,” said Michael Egilson, chair, death review panel.
Lapointe echoes Egilson, adding: “We must learn what we can from the tragic loss of life last summer to support future awareness and focused public health and safety strategies.”
Cellphone alerts during extreme heat emergencies
On Monday, the BC government launched the BC Heat Alert Response System (BC HARS) to ensure people across the province have the tools to stay safe during future heat events.
BC HARS includes two categories of heat events, including heat warnings and extreme heat emergencies, and will also issue a Broadcast Intrusive alert for extreme heat emergencies through the national public alerting system.
“Last summer’s unprecedented heat dome tragically resulted in hundreds of fatalities, making it clear we need to do more to be better prepared for future extreme heat events,” added Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth.
