New data from Maricopa County showed that by the week ending on August 10, heat caused or contributed to the deaths of 96 people so far this year.
Out of those 96 confirmed deaths, 57 were reported as heat caused while 39 were heat contributed.
Maricopa County defines heat caused as, "cases that mention heat or heat exposure in Part I of the death certificate causes of death (diseases or conditions in the direct sequence causing death)."
Heat contributed is defined as, "cases that mention heat exposure in Part II of the death certificate causes of death (diseases and conditions contributing but not directly resulting in the death sequence), but not in any of the Part I variables."
In comparison to this point last year, Maricopa County had seen 89 confirmed heat-related or contributed deaths so far, and 525 were still under investigation.
Right now, some Phoenix workers are demanding their employers take more action to protect them from our extreme heat.
