Extreme Heat Sends Kids To Hospitals

A new study of Dallas hospitals shows that children are coming to emergency rooms more often because of extreme heat. It is almost certain that this is happening across the country, although Dallas has more extremely hot days than most other large American cities. The information is based on research published in the National Library for Medicine. The paper was titled “Heat-Related Illness Trends at a Pediatric Health Care System, 2012 to 2023.”

The conclusions were based on diagnoses of “heat-related” illness. The data was collected from emergency rooms.

ER Visits Rise

As a percentage of ER visits, those that were heat related rose 170% over the period. This was from 4.3 per ten thousand in 2012 to 11.6 per thousand in 2023. Nine six percent were sent home and not hospitalized. 

Dallas is among the hottest large American cities during the summer. However, there are many others, including Houston, San Antonio, Phoenix, Las Vegas, and Miami. That does not include thousands of small cities and suburbs, nor does it include rural areas. The total number of heat-related emergency room visits by children each summer could be in the tens of thousands.