B.C. coroner investigates possible heat-related deaths

The BC Coroners Service says it is looking into three deaths “where excessive heat is a potential factor.”

In a statement to CityNews, the service says the deaths were reported during extreme heat events this summer.

“It should be stressed that this information is preliminary and subject to change as our work continues and investigations are completed.”

In 2021, a heat dome that gripped much of B.C. led to more than 600 deaths as a result of the heat.

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The majority of the deaths were in people 70 years of age or older, and more than half lived alone.

A coroners report looking into what happened determined that only seven per cent of those who died had an air conditioner in their home.

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Related articles:

• B.C. heat review: Coroner says more coordinated response needed after deadly 2021 event

• B.C. announces free air conditioners for some vulnerable people

• B.C. health authorities ask landlords to remove air conditioning, cooling barriers

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The service also found there was a lag between alerts and public response, as well as long waits for ambulances at the time.

“Essentially, people didn’t take it as seriously as we perhaps now think we should have taken it and we’re all guilty of that,” Dr. Jatinder Baidwan, chief medical health officer with the BC Coroners Service, said in June 2022.

“People dying from heat … It’s a failure of the health system. It’s a failure of the way that we live.”

In the months and years since the devastating heat dome, calls for the province to make air conditioning more accessible to people have grown.

In June of this year, the B.C. government announced some vulnerable British Columbians — largely lower-income seniors — would be eligible to receive free AC units through a new partnership with BC Hydro.

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A key recommendation from the BC Coroners Service’s review panel was for the government to provide AC units to those living in single-room apartments.

-With files from Espe Currie