Extreme heat causes nearly 500 deaths per year in Quebec, report says

Extreme heat has a major impact on Quebec's health-care system, which is already stretched thin, a report published on Wednesday says.

Extreme heat has a major impact on Quebec’s health-care system, says a report published by the National Institute for Scientific Research Wednesday that sheds light on various mortality and morbidity statistics in the province.

The INRS findings say high temperatures during the months of May to September in Quebec cause an estimated 470 deaths per year and 225 hospitalizations. As for ER visits, 36,000 of them were heat-related, along with 7,200 ambulance trips.

The province’s 811 Info-Santé health line also deals with a surge in calls, reporting 15,000 temperature-related calls.

Extreme heat waves are defined as high temperatures that have a statistically significant effect on health and last at least three consecutive days.

The report says the burden on the health-care system falls on five per cent of the hottest days during the May to September window. An estimated 200 deaths, 170 hospitalizations, 6,200 ER visits, 1,500 ambulance trips and 3,300 calls to Info-Santé are due to the heat during that time period.

“Knowing that extreme heat will be amplified by climate change, our team hopes that these results will lead to more action to better protect the Quebec population against the effects of heat,” wrote the report’s author, Jérémie Boudreault.

“Severe heat also generates direct costs for our system, which finds itself stretched to the limit.”

Canadian scientists have warned that the county’s future includes longer and more intense summer heat waves, which can also directly impact people’s mental health, with reports pointing to “crime waves” that see an increase in violence.