(B.C. Coroners Service).

By Aaron Schulze

Heatwave

‘This took many of us off guard’: B.C. nearly triples sudden and unexpected deaths amid heatwave

Jun 30, 2021 | 4:16 PM

VICTORIA — The province saw what the B.C. Coroners Service described as “an unprecedented number of deaths” between Friday (June 25) and Wednesday (June 30).

At least 486 sudden and unexpected deaths have been reported to the B.C. Coroners Service – a 195 per cent increase over the average 165 deaths. A brief summary from coroners suggests most of the deaths are people who live alone, older citizens and those who have underlying health conditions.

Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe said so far, the deaths occurred while people were in a residence and there have been no patterns of people collapsing outside.

“While it is too early to say with certainty how many of these deaths are heat related, it is believed likely that the significant increase in deaths reported is attributable to the extreme weather B.C. has experienced and continues to impact many parts of our province,” Chief Coroner Lisa Lapointe said. “Due to the much-greater-than-usual number of reported deaths in some areas, there have been instances where there have been delays in coroners responding to scenes of reported death.”

Lapointe said coroners, law enforcement and first responders have reallocated resources to minimize wait times. She said they and many British Columbians misunderstood the risk of the extreme heat wave.

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“Prior to the last few days, we experienced three deaths in B.C. due to heat in the last several years… this took many of us off guard,” Lapointe said. “Many of our health services and first responders — we haven’t experienced anything like this in a province.

Once the coroners enter their information into the province system, Lapointe said they’ll then look at patterns – region, ages, gender, underlying health conditions, and living conditions – before making recommendations to the B.C. government.

Lapointe said they hope to provide regional breakdowns for the deaths as soon as possible, but there’s no firm date for the analysis. She believes they’ll provide preliminary analysis in two to three months before a more detailed report.