Slight uptick in ER visits since start of heat wave, BCCDC says

The sizzling weather has stretched into the August long weekend and British Columbians are again being urged to know the signs of heat-related illness and check in on the vulnerable. 

Environment Canada first issued a heat warning for much of the province Monday, and it isn’t expected to lift the warning until Tuesday.

Sarah Henderson, scientific director of environmental health services with the British Columbia Centre for Disease Control, said there has been a slight uptick in the number of hospital visits.

“Certainly there have been small increases in heat-related illnesses and people going to the emergency rooms for those types of illnesses but nothing like what we saw during the heat dome last year,” Henderson said.

She said it is important to check on the elderly, children, those with chronic illnesses and people with certain mental health concerns.

“We did see during the heat dome last year that many of those deaths were among people with schizophrenia and severe depression,” she said, explaining they are more likely to experience social isolation, may not be aware of the threat of the heat, and many anti-psychotic and anti-depressant drugs interfere with the body’s ability to cool down.

David Phillips, senior climatologist with Environment Canada, said most people appear to be more prepared compared to last year’s heat dome.

“About five to 10 degrees less intense than it was last year,” he said, “people of course have acclimatized to it they know how to handle the situation, more so than they did last year.”

He said the heat warning will likely be lifted after the long weekend, but the mercury is expected to rise again next month.

“So even though August typically is half a degree to a degree cooler than July, it doesn't mean that we will see an end to these kind of hot, hazy and humid kinds of days,” he said.

Metro Vancouver is continuing an Air Quality Advisory for parts of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley because of high concentrations of ground-level ozone . The advisory is expected to last through Sunday.