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Complete Health Indicator Report of Emergency Department Visits due to Heat-Related Illness

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Why Is This Important?

The relationship between extreme heat and increased daily morbidity is well established. This indicator captures emergency department visits for heat-related illness or hyperthermia.

Definition

Emergency department visits for heat-related illnesses for a defined population in a specified time interval. Cases were selected using the following ICD-9 codes through September 2015: 992.0 - 992.9, E900.0, or E900.9 as a primary diagnosis, injury cause, or other diagnosis for occurrences during the months of May through September. Cases were excluded if a man-made source of heat (ICD-9 E900.1) was listed. Beginning October 2015, heat-related illness was defined by ICD-10 codes T67, X30, and X32 (exclusion W92).

How Are We Doing?

In New Jersey, the total number of days over 90 degrees F has increased by roughly 40 percent since 1949. On average throughout the state, the number of days over 90 degrees F have increased from about 17 to 23 per year. Extreme heat events are predicted to increase in both intensity and duration in future years. New Jersey generally experiences two heat waves per year with temperatures exceeding 90 F, and the heat waves last about four days. By the mid-2020s, it is projected that New Jersey will annually experience three to four heat waves lasting four to five days each. Annual number of days over 90 degrees F are projected to rise from an average of 14 days in 2000 to 23-29 days by the mid-2020s.

What Is Being Done?

The NJDOH is using data collected from emergency departments and hospitals to identify and track excessive heat related illnesses among New Jersey's residents. NJDOH will use the information to implement targeted actions that focus surveillance and relief efforts on high-risk populations or communities.

More Resources

CDC, Extreme Heat: A Prevention Guide to Promote Your Personal Health and Safety. [https://www.cdc.gov/disasters/extremeheat/] CDC, Extreme Heat: Tips for Preventing Heat-Related Illness. [https://www.cdc.gov/extreme-heat/prevention/] Ready.gov Heat Safety [https://www.ready.gov/heat] National Weather Service, Weather Fatalities. [https://www.weather.gov/hazstat/]

Emergency Department Visits due to Heat-Related Illness by County, May through September, New Jersey, 2022

  • ***The count has been suppressed because the number of events is too small for publication or could be used to calculate the number in a cell that has been suppressed.

Data Notes

Data have been age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population.

Data Sources

How the Measure is Calculated

  • Numerator:

    Number of emergency department visits for heat-related illness during the months of May through September.

  • Denominator:

    Estimated number of persons in the population.

Data Notes

Data have been age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population.

Data Sources

How the Measure is Calculated

  • Numerator:

    Number of emergency department visits for heat-related illness during the months of May through September.

  • Denominator:

    Estimated number of persons in the population.

Data Notes

Data have been age-adjusted to the U.S. 2000 standard population.

Data Sources

How the Measure is Calculated

  • Numerator:

    Number of emergency department visits for heat-related illness during the months of May through September.

  • Denominator:

    Estimated number of persons in the population.

'''Overall Discharge Volume in 2020: ''' Hospital claim volume for the 2020 calendar year was markedly lower (19.9%) than for 2019, mostly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This reduction was seen in both inpatient discharges (8.2% lower claim volume than 2019) and emergency department visits (27.3% lower claim volume than 2019). This was likely the result of hospital care being redirected to address the care for COVID-19 patients while elective surgeries and other outpatient care services were being postponed. '''ICD Coding between 2015 and 2016: ''' The nationwide switch from ICD-9-CM to ICD-10-CM hospital diagnosis coding on October 1, 2015 disrupted trends for some diseases and conditions. Interpret trend data in this report with caution. Also note that New Jersey's data for October through December, 2015 was recoded to ICD-9-CM so that entire year of data was coded the same way.


Environmental Public Health Tracking Indicator HRI-89

Description: Emergency department visits for heat-related illness
https://ephtracking.cdc.gov/indicatorPages?selectedContentAreaAbbreviation=35&selectedIndicatorId=89


Health Topic Pages Related to: Emergency Department Visits due to Heat-Related Illness

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Indicator Data Last Updated On 06/12/2024, Published on 06/12/2024
Environmental Public Health Tracking Project, New Jersey Department of Health, PO Box 369, Trenton, NJ 08625-0369, e-mail: nj.epht@doh.nj.gov (https://www.nj.gov/health/epht)