IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v14y2017i8p937-d108963.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A Geographical Analysis of Emergency Medical Service Calls and Extreme Heat in King County, WA, USA (2007–2012)

Author

Listed:
  • Aubrey C. DeVine

    (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA)

  • Phuong T. Vu

    (Department of Biostatistics, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA)

  • Michael G. Yost

    (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA)

  • Edmund Y. W. Seto

    (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA)

  • Tania M. Busch Isaksen

    (Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98105, USA)

Abstract

This research analyzed the relationship between extreme heat and Emergency Medical Service (EMS) calls in King County, WA, USA between 2007 and 2012, including the effect of community-level characteristics. Extreme heat thresholds for the Basic Life Support (BLS) data and the Advanced Life Support (ALS) data were found using a piecewise generalized linear model with Akaike Information Criterion (AIC). The association between heat exposure and EMS call rates was investigated using a generalized estimating equations with Poisson mean model, while adjusting for community-level indicators of poverty, impervious surface, and elderly population (65+). In addition, we examined the effect modifications of these community-level factors. Extreme-heat thresholds of 31.1 °C and 33.5 °C humidex were determined for the BLS and ALS data, respectively. After adjusting for other variables in the model, increased BLS call volume was significantly associated with occurring on a heat day (relative rate (RR) = 1.080, p < 0.001), as well as in locations with higher percent poverty (RR = 1.066, p < 0.001). No significant effect modification was identified for the BLS data on a heat day. Controlling for other variables, higher ALS call volume was found to be significantly associated with a heat day (RR = 1.067, p < 0.001), as well as in locations with higher percent impervious surface (RR = 1.015, p = 0.039), higher percent of the population 65 years or older (RR = 1.057, p = 0.005), and higher percent poverty (RR = 1.041, p = 0.016). Furthermore, percent poverty and impervious surface were found to significantly modify the relative rate of ALS call volumes between a heat day and non-heat day. We conclude that EMS call volume increases significantly on a heat day compared to non-heat day for both call types. While this study shows that there is some effect modification between the community-level variables and call volume on a heat day, further research is necessary. Our findings also suggest that with adequate power, spatially refined analyses may not be necessary to accurately estimate the extreme-heat effect on health.

Suggested Citation

  • Aubrey C. DeVine & Phuong T. Vu & Michael G. Yost & Edmund Y. W. Seto & Tania M. Busch Isaksen, 2017. "A Geographical Analysis of Emergency Medical Service Calls and Extreme Heat in King County, WA, USA (2007–2012)," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-16, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:8:p:937-:d:108963
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/8/937/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/14/8/937/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Harlan, Sharon L. & Brazel, Anthony J. & Prashad, Lela & Stefanov, William L. & Larsen, Larissa, 2006. "Neighborhood microclimates and vulnerability to heat stress," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(11), pages 2847-2863, December.
    2. Man Sing Wong & Fen Peng & Bin Zou & Wen Zhong Shi & Gaines J. Wilson, 2016. "Spatially Analyzing the Inequity of the Hong Kong Urban Heat Island by Socio-Demographic Characteristics," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-17, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. H. Allen Klaiber & Joshua K. Abbott & V. Kerry Smith, 2017. "Some Like It (Less) Hot: Extracting Trade-Off Measures for Physically Coupled Amenities," Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, University of Chicago Press, vol. 4(4), pages 1053-1079.
    2. Susan Williams & Peng Bi & Jonathan Newbury & Guy Robinson & Dino Pisaniello & Arthur Saniotis & Alana Hansen, 2013. "Extreme Heat and Health: Perspectives from Health Service Providers in Rural and Remote Communities in South Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-19, October.
    3. Weihua Dong & Zhao Liu & Lijie Zhang & Qiuhong Tang & Hua Liao & Xian'en Li, 2014. "Assessing Heat Health Risk for Sustainability in Beijing’s Urban Heat Island," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(10), pages 1-24, October.
    4. Fei Li & Tan Yigitcanlar & Madhav Nepal & Kien Nguyen Thanh & Fatih Dur, 2022. "Understanding Urban Heat Vulnerability Assessment Methods: A PRISMA Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-34, September.
    5. Sara Wilkinson & Renato Castiglia Feitosa, 2015. "Retrofitting Housing with Lightweight Green Roof Technology in Sydney, Australia, and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-18, January.
    6. De Valck, Jeremy & Beames, Alistair & Liekens, Inge & Bettens, Maarten & Seuntjens, Piet & Broekx, Steven, 2019. "Valuing urban ecosystem services in sustainable brownfield redevelopment," Ecosystem Services, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 139-149.
    7. Tao Chen & Anchang Sun & Ruiqing Niu, 2019. "Effect of Land Cover Fractions on Changes in Surface Urban Heat Islands Using Landsat Time-Series Images," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(6), pages 1-18, March.
    8. Vaneckova, Pavla & Beggs, Paul J. & Jacobson, Carol R., 2010. "Spatial analysis of heat-related mortality among the elderly between 1993 and 2004 in Sydney, Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(2), pages 293-304, January.
    9. Wei Zhang & Phil McManus & Elizabeth Duncan, 2018. "A Raster-Based Subdividing Indicator to Map Urban Heat Vulnerability: A Case Study in Sydney, Australia," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-20, November.
    10. Maria Papathoma-Koehle & Catrin Promper & Roxana Bojariu & Roxana Cica & András Sik & Kinga Perge & Peter László & Erika Balázs Czikora & Alexandru Dumitrescu & Cosmin Turcus & Marius-Victor Birsan & , 2016. "A common methodology for risk assessment and mapping for south-east Europe: an application for heat wave risk in Romania," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 82(1), pages 89-109, May.
    11. Qunshan Zhao & Elizabeth A. Wentz, 2016. "A MODIS/ASTER Airborne Simulator (MASTER) Imagery for Urban Heat Island Research," Data, MDPI, vol. 1(1), pages 1-9, June.
    12. Wenwen Cheng & J. O. Spengler & Robert D. Brown, 2020. "A Comprehensive Model for Estimating Heat Vulnerability of Young Athletes," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-11, August.
    13. Shalin Bidassey-Manilal & Caradee Yael Wright & Thandi Kapwata & Joyce Shirinde, 2020. "A Study Protocol to Determine Heat-Related Health Impacts among Primary Schoolchildren in South Africa," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-12, July.
    14. Yuan-Bin Cai & Ke Li & Yan-Hong Chen & Lei Wu & Wen-Bin Pan, 2021. "The Changes of Heat Contribution Index in Urban Thermal Environment: A Case Study in Fuzhou," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-18, August.
    15. Leeann Kuehn & Sabrina McCormick, 2017. "Heat Exposure and Maternal Health in the Face of Climate Change," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 14(8), pages 1-13, July.
    16. Weihua Dong & Zhao Liu & Hua Liao & Qiuhong Tang & Xian’en Li, 2015. "New climate and socio-economic scenarios for assessing global human health challenges due to heat risk," Climatic Change, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 505-518, June.
    17. Mabon, Leslie & Shih, Wan-Yu, 2018. "What might ‘just green enough’ urban development mean in the context of climate change adaptation? The case of urban greenspace planning in Taipei Metropolis, Taiwan," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 107(C), pages 224-238.
    18. João Monteiro & Nuno Sousa & João Coutinho-Rodrigues & Eduardo Natividade-Jesus, 2024. "Challenges Ahead for Sustainable Cities: An Urban Form and Transport System Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 17(2), pages 1-26, January.
    19. Rehana Shrestha & Johannes Flacke & Javier Martinez & Martin Van Maarseveen, 2016. "Environmental Health Related Socio-Spatial Inequalities: Identifying “Hotspots” of Environmental Burdens and Social Vulnerability," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(7), pages 1-23, July.
    20. Yizhou Wu & Yueer Wu & Yaxin Pan, 2024. "Sustainability Optimization Method of Built Environment with Integrated Physical Environment and Virtual Perception Simulation: A Case Study of Campus Open Space," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 16(20), pages 1-26, October.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:14:y:2017:i:8:p:937-:d:108963. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.