New Emergency Medical Services HeatTracker Helps Understand and Reduce Health Risks

A first-of-its-kind national data dashboard, the Heat-Related Illness EMS Activation Surveillance Dashboard (EMS HeatTracker), has been launched by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Climate Change and Health Equity, in partnership with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

What is the EMS HeatTracker?

EMS HeatTracker maps emergency medical services (EMS) responses to heat-related illness across the country. It draws data from the National EMS Information System, which captures patient care records from approximately 95% of all EMS agencies in the U.S. states and territories.

The EMS HeatTracker dashboard can display data by state or county for all 50 U.S. states, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia. It is updated weekly to show data on a rolling basis, highlighting jurisdictions with the highest rates of heat-related EMS activations. It can also display information about the time it took EMS to reach the patient, number of heat-related deaths among EMS activations, and more.

Why is this important?

The EMS HeatTracker helps target heat-related health resources and prioritize life-saving interventions for communities most impacted by extreme heat. Preparedness and response initiatives directed toward extreme heat events are necessary to keep vulnerable populations safe.

How is the EMS HeatTracker accessed?

The EMS HeatTracker is available through the Heat.gov portal.

The Heat.gov portal provides the public and decision-makers with clear, timely and science-based information to understand and reduce the health risks of extreme heat. Heat.gov is part of the National Integrated Heat Health Information System, which was created by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.