It might not feel that way from the temperature outside, but heat season is around the corner, and the Maryland Department of Health has a new way of tracking weather-related illnesses.
The state health department launched a new dashboard that provides a weekly snapshot of health data during the heat and cold seasons in Maryland.
The Maryland Weather-Related Illness Data Dashboard replaces document-formatted reports and is updated every Wednesday. It contains data on emergency department (ED) visits, emergency medical services (EMS) calls, and weather-related deaths. The data is collected by the department’s Office of Preparedness and Response during Maryland’s heat season (May through September) and its cold season (November through March).
“We are seeing more extremes in weather in our state,” said Dr. Meena Seshamani, Maryland Health Secretary. “The Weather-Related Illness Data Dashboard will help the Department and partner agencies support at-risk communities faster, allocate resources better, and monitor local needs during extreme heat and cold.”
The dashboard’s features include tracking specific trends in emergency department and emergency medical services data, like visits to the ED related to hypothermia and hyperthermia, carbon monoxide exposure, and EMS calls for weather-related illness. It also has graphs showing hypo- and hyperthermia-related visits by week or season, by demographics (age group, sex, race/ethnicity), and geographic jurisdiction.
Viewers can also check weather-related death information from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner. The dashboard has graphs tracking weather-related deaths, an analysis of conditions that coincide with hypo/hyperthermia among weather-related deaths, data on the housing status of people who died from the extreme weather, and weekly trends for the date of death.
The Office of Preparedness and Response’s website has more information on the Weather-Related Illness Data Dashboard. To get information on weather preparedness and safety, visit the department’s heat and cold resource pages.
