Greg Hess, the medical examiner for Pima County, Arizona, is leading efforts to improve how heat-related deaths are tracked and counted across the country. His office handles approximately 3,000 deaths annually, with a significant portion occurring between April and October when extreme heat becomes a pressing concern in the region. Hess and colleagues at other medical examiner offices are implementing new protocols to more accurately document and catalog deaths influenced by heat and other climate-related factors.
Currently, experts estimate that thousands of Americans die each year due to climate-fueled disasters, including intense heat waves and severe weather events, yet no official national system exists to comprehensively track these deaths. Kristie Ebi, a public health and climate epidemiologist at the University of Washington, notes that this undercounting has serious consequences beyond the personal grief of families. Without accurate data on mortality rates from weather-related disasters, communities and policymakers cannot adequately plan preventive measures, such as determining where to establish cooling centers during dangerous heat conditions or how to allocate resources for public health interventions.
Hess came to his current position in 2011 and quickly encountered a humanitarian crisis when his office began receiving regular calls about deaths among people attempting to cross the desert border from Mexico. These incidents, occurring multiple times per summer, numbered in the hundreds annually. The experience prompted Hess’s team to develop thorough investigative protocols designed to identify victims, locate family members, and document detailed information about each death. This work demonstrated the value of comprehensive data collection during public health crises.
Hess’s approach has since informed his office’s response to subsequent challenges, including tracking opioid-related deaths. He compiles annual reports containing valuable insights about mortality patterns, though he acknowledges that the utility of these reports has been limited by timing and accessibility issues. As climate change intensifies heat waves and weather events, Hess and a growing cohort of medical examiners and public health experts are working to ensure that accurate mortality data becomes available to inform policy decisions and potentially save lives.
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