A recent panel report by BC Coroners Servicementions that 619 people died in BC during heat dome of 2021 and 98 percent of those deaths occurred indoors.
The death-panel report released this week provided a road map for the province and called for a co-ordinated heat-alert system.
In late June 2021, British Columbia experienced an unprecedented heat dome which resulted in record temperatures across many parts of the province over several days.Temperatures started to rise on June 24 and continued increasing to a peak on June 28-29. At the peak, temperatures reached over 40⁰C in many parts of the province. Overnight temperatures were also uncharacteristically high. During the week of the EHE (June 25–July 1, 2021), the BC Coroners Service (BCCS) responded to a sudden and significant increase in deaths.
More than 800 deaths were investigated by BCCS during that week, with 619 of these deaths later identified as being heat-related.
The Chief Coroner convened a death review panel to review the circumstances around these deaths to identify actions to improve public safety and prevent future deaths.
The findings are contained in the report Extreme Heat and Human Mortality.
Michael Egilson, chair, death review panel, said, “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.”
The findings from coroner investigations show thatheat-related deaths were higher among people on specific chronic disease registries, compared to the B.C. population.
It also mentioned that 74% of deaths occurred in Fraser and Vancouver Coastal health authorities.
The report said that there was a lag between the heat alerts issued by Environment and Climate Change Canada and public agencies and the public response.
The report mentions 911 calls doubled during the peak of the heat dome. Paramedics attended 54% (332) of deaths with a median time of 10 minutes and 25 seconds and in 50 instances, paramedics took 30 minutes or longer from time of call to scene attendance. In 17 instances, 911 callers were placed on hold for an extended period of time.
Calling it a failure, Shirley Bond, BC Liberal Critic for Health, said, “Speaking about the NDP’s promised improvements to ambulance service, Troy Clifford, President of the Ambulance Paramedics of BC has even said, they are ‘no better off today than we were then,’ despite the NDP’s rhetoric to the contrary.”
Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, Chief Medical Officer, BC Coroners Service during a press conference pointed to three major recommendations to avoid future tragedy. He recommended a coordinated Heat Alert Response System (HARS), ensuring vulnerable populations are identified and supported during extreme heat events, implementing prevention and longer-term risk mitigation strategies.
Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General, said, “After last year’s tragic heat dome, and the increasing impacts of climate change, it was clear we needed to work together to be prepared for heat events, particularly extreme heat emergencies.”
Thanking Heat-Related Death Review Panel for its recommendations, Farnworth noted that many of the recommendations within the panel’s report that are addressed to the Province are complete or underway.
Only a day before provincial government had announced a two-stage heat response system to help people and communities stay safe as temperatures rise and the threat of heat-related emergencies increases.
BC announced that it was launching the BC Heat Alert and Response System (BC HARS)to issue a Broadcast Intrusive alert for extreme heat emergencies.
“The Province is also bringing in additional measures to bolster B.C.’s ambulance system to better respond to a significant increase in 9-1-1 calls during a heat emergency,” health minister Adrian Dix informed.
BC HARSincludes two categories of heat events: heat warnings and extreme heat emergencies. In the event of a heat warning or extreme heat emergency, the provincial government and local authorities will take appropriate actions based on their individual heat plans and processes.
For extreme heat emergencies, BC is prepared to issue alerts through the national public alerting system, Alert Ready, which is already used to issue Amber Alerts and tsunami, wildfire and flood warnings.
During an extreme heat event, BC Emergency Health Services’ (BCEHS) new Clinical Safety Plan will increase capacity, maintain quality patient service, protect staff health and safety, and ensure timely communication with various stakeholders. The plan will guide BCEHS during an extreme event through actions such as reassigning staff to support areas experiencing increased call volumes, reducing turnaround times at key hospitals and using alternate care pathways and transport options so ambulances are available for life-threatening 911 calls.
The Province has also created a new Extreme Heat Preparedness Guide targeted at helping people prepare their residences for extreme heat and that provides advice on how to stay safe when temperatures rise. The guide is available in French, Punjabi, traditional Chinese and simplified Chinese and was created in partnership with the BC Centre for Disease Control.
