Arizona Heat Death Toll Climbs to Double Digits

[Bank]

From http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0724homeless24.html

The double-digit death toll attributed to heat in the Valley this month is probably only a small portion of the true figure, according to experts.

The actual number is probably much higher, a number not captured in statistics because heat is either not listed on the death certificate or listed only as a contributing factor.

"There are a lot more deaths that we're not counting," said Will Humble, bureau chief for disease control at the Arizona Department of Heath Services.

"For example, an elderly person may be working in the yard on the rosebushes and have a heart attack. The cause of death might be listed as myocardial infarction, or heart attack. The question is," he said, "did the heat trigger it or put stress on the heart to cause the attack?"

Authorities have attributed 21 deaths to heat in the past week, which was one of the hottest on record. The daily high temperature has topped 110 degrees 14 times during July so far. On many days, the temperature wasn't dropping below 100 until long after dark, often not until early the following morning.

The question of whether a death is ruled heat-related is not just one of semantics or idle statistical navel gazing. It can mean the difference in recognizing a public health crisis.

When Philadelphia changed its criteria for classifying heat deaths in 1993, it turned collective heads.

Technically, hyperthermia is the cause of death when a person's core temperature reaches at least 106 degrees.

But many of those who died in a heat wave in Philadelphia in '93 lived alone, and their bodies were found much later, making it impossible to determine core temperature, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

So the city's medical examiner decided to look at other evidence, like the room temperature, or whether the air-conditioning was working.

"While other East Coast cities such as Boston and New York were reporting heat-related deaths in the single digits, Philadelphia reported 118 by summer's end," the paper reported.

[Opulent]

yeah, it's hot here. :)
but I'd much rather be in Arizona at 110 than in Florida or Kentucky at 90-some degrees Fahrenheit.
also, some of those deaths are attributable to Darwin's law...

[Bank]

I suppose, I live in Arizona most of the year, but I'm on Vacation in BC, Sheesh, 21...

[myk]

Opulent said:
also, some of those deaths are attributable to Darwin's law...

It's usually old people that die of cold or heat.

[Sharessa]

myk said:

It's usually old people that die of cold or heat.

Survival of the fittest.

Anyway, this is the reason I live where I live. It's a comfortable and rainy 50-70 degrees year-round. :P

[exp(x)]

I used to live in Phoenix. I remember one summer it got that hot and my family's air conditioner broke.

[myk]

Danarchy said:
Survival of the fittest.

No. By the time old people die, they either likely already reproduced, or missed their chance altogether.

[david_a]

Danarchy said:

Survival of the fittest.

Anyway, this is the reason I live where I live. It's a comfortable and rainy 50-70 degrees year-round. :P

Doesn't it ever snow in the Pacific Northwest? I've always wondered.

[Gokuma]

Get out of the kitchen you re-res!

[Sharessa]

myk said:

No. By the time old people die, they either likely already reproduced, or missed their chance altogether.

Yes, but it still is less of a drain on our resources when they die.

david_a said:

Doesn't it ever snow in the Pacific Northwest? I've always wondered.

Not really. Maybe once or twice a year, sometimes none at all. The worst winter we had, we got 2 feet of snow in the lowlands which lasted a week and a half or so. That's the one time I remember it snowing on Xmas.

[Quast]

Danarchy said:

it still is less of a drain on our resources when they die.

That has nothing to do with survival of the fittest though.

[Opulent]

myk said:

It's usually old people that die of cold or heat.

every year you hear about some moron who hiked in the desert with no water all alone, or some such thing. no one can count on every dilemma, but these people often don't use any common sense.
I wasn't trying to sound harsh... I know some 60+ year-old people who have died playing golf in the sun. :(