On Thursday, the Maricopa County Department of Public Health (MCDPH) unveiled a new interactive online dashboard aimed at providing residents with more accessible and timely data on countywide heat-related hospital visits and deaths. The tool is part of Maricopa County’s ongoing efforts to prevent summer heat deaths.
Dr. Rebecca Sunenshine, the Medical Director of MCDPH, stated that tracking the effects of heat on Maricopa County residents has been ongoing since 2006. The new dashboard visualizes data to make it easier for partners to take action and focus on prevention strategies for those at highest risk of heat-related illness and death.
The dashboard features near real-time data on heat-related hospital visits and deaths, comparative data for 2023 and 2024, patient characteristics by age, race, and sex to identify high-risk groups, and information on housing status and substance use involvement. Additionally, the dashboard will display daily maximum and minimum temperatures to provide a comprehensive look at how heat is impacting residents and visitors.
The dashboard was created using the Power BI platform with support from the county’s enterprise technology team and will be updated weekly on Tuesdays. The tracker is optimized for desktop viewing, and MCDPH has provided a guidance document to help users navigate the dashboard effectively. If you have a story idea or tip, you can share it with the KTAR News team.
