‘Urgent need’ to plan for extreme weather: Study

One in 15 visits to emergency departments in the Australian Capital Territory over a 20-year period is linked to extreme weather events, according to new research.  
 
The findings, made by researchers from the Australian National University (ANU), say hot weather will become a more significant driver of climate-related ED presentations as the climate continues to warm.
 
Using data from more than 1.4 million ED presentations, the study also warns colder temperatures will inflate figures without significant intervention.
 
The findings highlight the ‘urgent need’ for region-specific adaptation strategies to mitigate the health impacts of temperature extremes on vulnerable people, say the researchers, who urged authorities to prepare healthcare systems for the projected spikes in ED presentations.
 
Published in ScienceDirect, the study reports that between 2000–21, almost 36,000 ED presentations in the ACT were linked to heat. This represented 2.5% of all visits.
 
Yet cold weather caused even more ED presentations over the same period, with 4% associated with cold conditions. 
 
Canberra experiences the coldest winters of any capital city in Australia, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, with minimum winter temperatures regularly below 2 degrees.
 
While cold-related presentations are expected to fall as a proportion of the total as ACT winters warm, researchers predict they will drive more than 81,000 ED visits in the 20 years between 2040 and 2061.
 
However, they also predict heat-related presentations will rise to 69,000 presentations (2.7% of all ED visits) over the same time.
 
Lead researcher, Dr Michael Tong, said ED presentations in the ACT increased when temperatures were high, and when temperatures dropped below 14 degrees.
 
He said the research also reveals people aged under 20 are ‘significantly more likely’ to end up in hospital EDs on hot days, whereas those over 60 are more likely to present after extreme cold weather ‘but are still vulnerable during heatwaves’.  
 
Director of ANU National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Professor Hilary Bambrick, said the study reinforces international warnings that climate change presents ‘one of our biggest public health challenges’.
 
‘How we stay safe in a hotter climate and how we ensure our health systems can cope with additional load are now urgent priorities,’ she said.
 
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