Public Health launches online heat-related illness and death dashboard

PHOENIX — The Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) launched an interactive, online heat-related illness and death dashboard Thursday.

The webpage aims to provide residents with more accessible and timely data around countywide heat-related hospital visits and deaths, according to officials.

The tool is a part of Maricopa County’s heat preparedness and response effort already underway to prevent another summer of record-breaking heat deaths.

“This is a significant new step in tracking the effects of heat on people who live in or visit Maricopa County, which we have been doing since 2006,” MCDPH Medical Director Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine said in a news release. “This information has helped focus prevention strategies on those at highest risk of heat-related illness and death, and this new approach to visualizing the data makes it easier for our partners to translate data into action.”

What are the features of the dashboard?

Officials say the dashboard replaces weekly heat surveillance reports previously published on the public health website. The new tracker features:

• Near real-time data on heat-related hospital visits in addition to data on heat-related deaths
• Comparative data for heat-related deaths and hospital visits for 2023 and 2024
• Patient characteristics by age, race and sex to demonstrate who is at highest risk from heat and inform prevention efforts
• Patient characteristics on housing status and substance use involvement in heat-related hospital visits and deaths

In addition to showing data on heat-related hospital visits, the dashboard also will list daily maximum and minimum temperatures.

“We’re proud to provide such a comprehensive look at how heat is impacting our residents and visitors,” Sunenshine said.

The dashboard was designed through the Power BI platform with support from the county’s enterprise technology team. It will be updated weekly on Tuesdays.

Officials say the tracker is optimized for desktop viewing. MCDPH prepared a guidance document to support users as they navigate the dashboard.