As Phoenix saw its hottest month ever, the Maricopa County Medical Examiner’s Office began seeing a surge in death-investigation cases on July 10.
Medical Examiner admissions for the month of July were 842 compared to 764 for the same month last year, an increase of 10%.
County officials tell ABC15 that 57% of the deaths since the surge began were potentially caused by or contributed to by heat.
As of August 1, Maricopa County recorded 39 heat-caused or heat-related deaths this year with 312 deaths still under investigation. For the full report, click here.
There is a lag between when a death occurs and when the medical examiner confirms and reports the cause.
“It’s too early to provide specific counts for heat-related deaths as those investigations take time,” Maricopa County Medical Examiner Jeff Johnston said in a statement.
The county has not yet had to use the additional 10 coolers that could accommodate up to 180 bodies. The coolers were brought in last week as part of the county’s emergency planning.
“While the additional coolers will assist with capacity, we want to recognize the staff at OMA that are operating at far above their typical maximums to respond to this surge,” Johnston said.
The medical examiner typically sees a surge in deaths in the summer. But this year is particularly bad, county officials said.
The surge comes as Arizona set multiple heat records in July.
Phoenix had a record 31 consecutive days at 110º or more.
Phoenix had the hottest month on record for a U.S. city with an average temperature of 102.7º. The previous record was an average 99.1º set in August 2020.
Email ABC15 Investigator Anne Ryman at anne.ryman@abc15.com, call her at 602-685-6345, or connect on Twitter and Facebook.
