The summer of 2024 was the summer of Phoenix. hottest ever. Despite this, there appear to have been fewer heat-related deaths in Maricopa County this year than last year. If these numbers are confirmed, it will be the first time in 10 years that the number of deaths due to heatstroke has decreased compared to the previous year.

To date in 2024, 177 heat-related deaths have been confirmed in Maricopa County, with 436 remaining under investigation. Preliminary data from the county shows that. In other words, the number of heatstroke deaths in Maricopa County in 2024 is still likely to be the highest on record. However, that number is down about 12% compared to the same point last year.

“This is not the time for a victory lap,” said David Hondura, director of Phoenix's Office of Heat Prevention and Mitigation. “While there are encouraging signs in the numbers compared to last year, we still have a long way to go for the really deep cuts everyone wants.”

But Hondura says this apparent decline could be a sign that increased investment in heat protection and new strategies to protect vulnerable populations from the heat are starting to move in the right direction. said.

This summer, the city's efforts to combat the heat will undergo major changes. Business hours have been extended Three public cooling centers have been set up and two others will remain open overnight. The cooling center will be operational in May and will remain operational until the end of September. The city reported these five sites. There have been over 20,000 visits so far. And more than 700 visitors were referred to treatment or shelter. Hondura said the site's impact would be transformative.

“We are talking about a life that has changed,” Hondura said. “And we're very confident that when the data becomes available at the end of the season, when we look at that data, we'll also see that lives were saved from these locations.”

Hondura said his office has benefited from close collaboration with Maricopa County and other municipalities this year.

For example, when monsoon storms caused power outages in some areas in August, Hondura lost its air conditioners, with cities, counties, and power companies working together to quickly determine if cooling centers were affected. He said he had told residents where to go. Heat relief.

“We were able to do it in a very coordinated way and very quickly because of so many partners and new investments that the city has made,” Hondura said.

These new investments this year included funding from Maricopa County for Arizona's 211 helpline to increase the number of operators available to respond to heat-related questions. The county also allocated federal funds to pay for transportation services to transport 211 callers to cooling centers. And the county hired its first full-time countywide cooling center coordinator.

“I think we're moving in the right direction in terms of putting resources into it,” said Dr. Nick Staab, assistant medical director for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health. “Operations like this last so long that it's really impossible to jump right in and respond effectively. You need dedicated staff working on this year-round.”

The city and county's investments in heat protection this year are a combination of funding from multiple sources, including federal pandemic relief funding from the American Rescue Plan Act, which expires in 2026. As such, Staab said future summer heat efforts will depend on reliable funding.

“We know next summer is going to be hot and we're going to face the same problems. Every summer we have to prepare for that,” Staab said.

Both Hondura and Stave said they want to continue analyzing data to understand which heat mitigation strategies were most effective this summer. And both said they want to see continued efforts to address homelessness and drug use in the coming summers. These are important factors in heat-related deaths.

“All of these deaths are preventable, so we just need to make sure we get the right resources to the right communities,” Staab said. “We hope that we can continue our efforts to reduce this number.”