U of A study looking at connection between extreme heat and increased 911 calls

TUCSON, AZ (AZFamily) — A new study by researchers at the University of Arizona’s Zuckerman College of Public Health aims to address the issue of increasing 911 calls during heat waves and certain neighborhoods requesting emergency services more than others on days with high air pollution.

Helping to foot the bill for this study will be a $1.6 million grant from the National Institute of Health and Environmental Sciences.

Lead researcher Chris Lim told Arizona‘s Family that this study is especially important because it’s looking at the entire country.

“A lot of studies looking at air quality and temperature with EMS activation have been really limited to a few cities and certain locations,” Lim said. “This relationship has not been looked at across the US.”

He also said the study will look at factors like “who is being impacted in terms of age, sex and gender.”

Knowing when extra resources might be needed is always helpful.

“This study will allow healthcare providers to prepare ahead when a heatwave is coming, temperature is increasing rapidly, or if a wildfire is happening as well,” Lim said.

They are hoping to have some preliminary results from the study in about a year, but some interesting information is already trickling out of their work.

Lim said they have found data showing many heat-related calls are coming from indoors, not outdoors.

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