L.A. County Launches Near Real-Time Heat-Related ER Visit Tracking

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health has launched a public dashboard offering near-real-time insights into heat-related emergency room visits. As the summer heat ramps up, public health experts say the dashboard will help demonstrate the effectiveness of county programs meant to combat the effects of extreme heat, according to the Los Angeles Times. L.A. County recently established a heat action plan with the goal of educating the public on how to stay cool during extreme heat with tactics such as seeking out shade and air conditioning.

What Is L.A. County's Heat-Related Illness Dashboard and How Does It Work?

“It’s showing the county’s commitment to reducing the burden of heat on people’s health,” David Eisenman, director of UCLA’s Center for Public Health and Disasters, told the Times regarding the new dashboard. “As the county puts more resources into that, this is a metric that allows the public to judge the effectiveness of the work.”

The dashboard draws data from the L.A. County Department of Public Health Syndromic Surveillance Project, which tracks initial self-reported symptoms and diagnosis codes from patients at 96% of L.A. County emergency departments. It allows users to view trends in daily ED visits for heat-related illness as well as breakdowns of ED visits for heat-related ailments by age group, sex, race/ethnicity and geographic area. The graph displaying daily visits is updated once per week on Wednesdays from June through October.

Extreme heat events have become more common and severe in Los Angeles County; heat waves can exacerbate pre-existing conditions in addition to impairing the body’s ability to cool itself and causing ailments such as heat exhaustion, stroke, cramps and rashes, according to the L.A. County Department of Public Health.

The dashboard reminds visitors that heat-related illnesses are preventable and provides links to further information about heat safety, recognizing and responding to heat-related conditions and protecting yourself and others during periods of high temperatures.

How Hospitals Nationwide Are Preparing for Extreme Heat-Related Illness

Public health officials in L.A. County aren’t the only ones taking steps to minimize the ill effects of extreme heat: Hospitals and health systems across the country, particularly those in regions like the Southwest, have implemented new approaches to heat-related illnesses in recent years. For example, Phoenix-based Valleywise Health and University Medical Center of Southern Nevada in Las Vegas have turned to cold water immersion to rapidly lower the body temperature of patients with heat stroke. For more information, read the recent Market Scan article, “Preparing for Extreme Heat: 6 Best Practices for Hospitals.”